PARK CITY, Kan. – The 2016-17 season came to an end for the Butler women's basketball team Monday night with an 84-77 loss to Cowley in the Region VI semifinals at Hartman Arena.
Sophomore Kendriana Washington led the Grizzlies (24-7) with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Dakota Vann finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in the loss. Raven Prince added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Cowley (24-8) moves into Tuesday's semifinals to face No. Hutchinson, while No. 4 Seward County and Cloud County will battle in the other semifinal.
Cowley's hot three-point shooting was the difference against Butler, as the Tigers hit 16 of 35 from behind the arc for a 45.7 percent clip.
Vann helped Butler take an early 9-4 lead in the opening quarter with a three-pointer, layup and two foul shots. Cowley's Bridget Mimmo hit a pair of treys to pull the Tigers within one, 13-12, after one quarter.
The lead changed hands four times in the second quarter before Cowley ended the half with a 12-0 run – all coming on three-point baskets – to take a 34-27 lead at the break.
Butler opened the second half with a 10-3 run to tie the game at 37-37 with 6:27 left in the third quarter. Both teams exchanged three-pointers, then Nakylia Carter hit 1-of-2 foul shots to put Butler in front. Carter added a steal and layup at the 4:12 mark to give the Grizzlies a three-point lead at 43-40.
Cowley answered later in the quarter with three-pointers from Corie Fischer and Mimmo, which helped the Tigers go up 53-50 heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth, Butler recovered from an eight-point deficit to pull within two on Kendriana Washington's three-pointer with 2:27 to play.
Cowley would work the margin back to 77-70 on a trey by Kaitlyn Potter with 57 seconds left. Butler got within three on two occasions, the latter coming on a Prince layup with 15 seconds remaining. However, Cowley would hit 4-of-4 foul shots while Butler failed to get a shot at the basket.
From the field, Butler shot 53.7 percent (29 of 54), while Cowley made 40.0 percent (26 of 65). The Grizzlies won the rebound margin by a 40-30 count, but 23 turnovers led to 26 points for Cowley.
Cowley was led in scoring by Rihanna Lang's 24 points, while Kaitlyn Potter came off the bench to score 18 points and hit 6 of 8 three-pointers.
