A move to the Jayhawk East Division and a tough non-conference schedule highlight the 2013-14 Butler women's basketball schedule, which was released on Friday.
The Grizzlies will play six of their first seven games on the road with the lone home date with Southwestern College on Tuesday, Nov. 12. This will be the first time since 2006 that the Grizzlies have not opened the season at home.
Butler plays two national tournament qualifiers from 2012-13 at home in Redlands (Okla.) on Nov. 18 and Crowder College on Nov. 23. In addition, the Grizzlies will play only two non-conference opponents that finished with a losing record and eight games with non-league opponents that tallied 20 or more wins last season.
"This is the toughest non-conference schedule we have put together in my time at Butler," said head coach Mike Helmer. "We will rely on our sophomore leadership early and hope that our freshmen can come along quickly."
The 2013-14 schedule begins on Friday, Nov. 1 with a trip to Sedalia, Missouri for the McDonald's State Fair Classic. There the Grizzlies will play Jefferson College on Friday, then face host school State Fair on Saturday. Butler then travels to Oklahoma the following weekend with games against Murray State and Seminole State on back-to-back days beginning on Nov. 8.
The home slate begins with a Nov. 12 tilt against Southwestern College. Butler defeated the Moundbuilders last season 106-47.
The Grizzlies then travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa to face a pair of perennial 20 win teams beginning with former Jayhawk West rival Cloud County. Last season, the Grizzlies swept the Thunderbirds in conference play for the first time in school history. Butler next faces Iowa Western, as the two are no strangers having met in each of the last two seasons and splitting the contests by a combined total of five points.
Then the Grizzlies begin a six-game homestand in the friendly confines of the Power Plant beginning on Monday, Nov. 18 against Redlands (Okla.). Butler swept Redlands in both meetings last season before Redlands went on the win the Region II Championship and advance to the NJCAA National Tournament in Salina. The homestand includes Jayhawk West opponents Pratt (Nov. 20), Garden City (Nov. 26), and Barton (Dec. 4), as well as national tourney participant Crowder (Mo.) on Nov. 23.
Butler ends the December portion of the schedule on Saturday, Dec. 14 as the Grizzlies play host to Seminole State College (Okla.).
After an 18-day layoff, Butler returns to action as they ring in the New Year with a road game at Crowder on Jan. 2. The Grizzlies will play their last non-conference home game against Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa on Jan. 6. The Grizzlies bested the Mavericks last season sweeping the two meetings by an average of 45 points.
The non-conference schedule concludes with a trip to Pratt on Jan. 8.
Butler will then play its first ever conference games as a member of the newly aligned Jayhawk Eastern Conference. The Conference schedule begins at home Jan. 15 against Cowley. The Grizzlies also face Coffeyville, Allen, Labette, Independence and Neosho during the conference portion of the schedule. Butler will end the regular season with four of its last five conference games on the road before heading to the Region VI Tournament.
The first round will be held at home sites with the remainder of the tournament held back in Wichita State's Koch Arena on March 6-8, 2014. The Region VI tourney returns to Koch Arena, as Park City's Hartman Arena has hosted the event the last two years.
| 2013-14 Butler women's basketball schedule | |||
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
| Nov. 1 | Jefferson (Mo.) | Sedalia, MO | TBA |
| Nov. 2 | State Fair (Mo.) | Sedalia, MO | TBA |
| Nov. 8 | Murray State (Okla.) | Tishimingo, OK | 6 p.m. |
| Nov. 9 | Seminole State (Okla.) | Seminole, OK | 2 p.m. |
| Nov. 12 | Southwestern JV | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 15 | Cloud County | Council Bluffs, IA | TBA |
| Nov. 16 | Iowa Western | Council Bluffs, IA | TBA |
| Nov. 18 | Redlands (Okla.) | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 20 | Pratt | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 23 | Crowder (Mo.) | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 26 | Garden City | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 2 | Tabor JV | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 4 | Barton | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 7 | Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa | Tonkawa, OK | 5 p.m. |
| Dec. 14 | Seminole State | El Dorado, KS | 2 p.m. |
| Jan. 2 | Crowder (Mo.) | Neosho, MO | 6 p.m. |
| Jan. 6 | Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 8 | Pratt | Pratt, KS | TBA |
| Jan. 15 | Cowley | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 18 | Coffeyville | Coffeyville, KS | TBA |
| Jan. 22 | Allen | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 25 | Labette | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 29 | Independence | Independence, KS | TBA |
| Feb. 1 | Neosho County | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Feb. 5 | Coffeyville | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Feb. 8 | Allen County | Iola, KS | TBA |
| Feb. 12 | Cowley | Arkansas City, KS | TBA |
| Feb. 15 | Independence | El Dorado, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| Feb. 19 | Labette | Parsons, KS | TBA |
| Feb. 22 | Neosho County | Chanute, KS | 5:30 p.m. |
| March 1 | Region VI Tournament - 1st round | Home site | TBA |
| March 6-8 | Region VI Tournament | Wichita, KS | TBA |
| March 17-22 | NJCAA Division I National Tournament | Salina, KS | TBA |