The Butler women's basketball team is the outright Jayhawk East Conference champions, dismantling Independence 90-49 in its final home game of the regular season to clinch sole possession of the title.
Butler, ranked sixth nationally, is now 27-1 overall, extending the finest start to a season in program history. The Grizzlies are also 10-0 in conference play, clinching the title. It is the first conference title since 1995 for the program, a span of 19 years.
Early in the first half, Independence was hanging around, down just nine at 22-13 with 10:21 to play in the period. Butler then went on a 13-0 run, pushing the lead to 22 points.
At the half, Butler had that same 22-point margin, leading 44-22.
Butler started the second half by scoring the first 10 points, eight of them coming from sophomore Ashlee Ivy. That pushed the lead past 30 points for the first time. The Grizzlies would eventually lead by as many as 50 points, that coming on a 3-pointer by Alli Heimerman with 5:38 to play in the game.
On a night when the Grizzlies honored their sophomore class after the game, several sophomores had a big night scoring the basketball. Ashlee Ivy led the Grizzlies with 18 points. After leading the team with 18 points on Wednesday, Shayla Williams followed with 16 points for the Grizzlies on Saturday. Te'era Williams also had 16 points and led the team with seven rebounds.
Freshman Ashley Gibson had 14 points for Butler, while Teanna Reid scored just five points but had 11 assists, tying her career high as she also had 11 in Butler's win at Independence in January.
Butler will now finish the regular season with two road games. The Grizzlies play at Labette on Wednesday and then at Neosho on Saturday. Butler will then be the top seed from the East in the Region VI playoffs and get a home playoff game in the first round, to be played on March 1.
