The Butler women's basketball team tied the school record for wins in a season on Saturday as the Grizzlies eliminated Colby from the Region VI playoffs with an 81-45 victory.
With the win, the top-seeded Grizzlies move on to Wichita State's Koch Arena, where Butler will face Cloud County at 1 p.m. on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Butler is now 30-1 on the season, tying the record for wins originally set by the 1991-92 team that finished 30-4.
The Grizzlies started slowly against Colby, with the game tied 2-2 after more than four minutes of play. Butler eventually heated up and scored nine straight to take an 11-2 lead. After a 3-pointer by Katie Andersen followed up by a basket and free throw from Ashley Gibson, the Grizzlies led 25-5 with 7:55 to play in the half.
Butler would double its scoring in the final eight minutes of the first half and a 3-pointer just before the buzzer by Ashlee Ivy put the Grizzlies up 52-11 at the break. It is the seventh time this season that the Grizzlies have scored 50 or more points in the first half, including three straight games.
The Grizzlies scored a flurry of points early in the second half, going up by 55 after a layup by Katie Andersen with 12 minutes to go that made it 76-21. Butler pulled its starters at that point and Colby would close the game on a 24-5 run to close the final gap to just 36 points.
Butler was led by Te'era Williams, who had 21 of her game-high 22 points in the first half. She also had 11 points, her 13th double-double of the season. Teanna Reid had 11 points and Terryuana Godwin had 10.
