Women's Basketball Preview vs Independence (March 1st)

Independence at #RV Butler

Wednesday, March 1st | 5:30 PM Tipoff

The Power Plant | El Dorado, Kansas

Watch Live: butlergrizzlies.com/watchlive

Live Stats: tinyurl.com/maytdjfc

Massey Ratings Score Prediction: (masseyratings.com): Score: Independence 60, Butler 69.

Other Massey Ratings Insights: Chance to win %: Butler 74%, Indy 26%, Betting line: Butler -9.5, Game O/U: 128.5 points

Series since 2011: Independence leads 12-11 | Last meeting: Butler won at Indy on January 14th, 72-63

Notes compiled by Wyatt Ebersole

Opening notes: 

• The Butler Grizzlies will play host to the Independence Pirates in their regular season finale on Wednesday in the Power Plant at 5:30
• Masseyratings.com ranks Independence as the 62nd best team in the NJCAA and Butler as the 29th
  • Rankings based on metrics such as: strength of victory, strength of defeat, margin of defeat, margin of victory, etc
• Despite their recent struggles, the Grizzly Women clinched a first-round bye in the quickly approaching Region VI Playoffs and they are locked into the #3 seed
• The Grizzlies are looking to complete the two-game season sweep of the Pirates for the third time since 2016
• Butler has won seven of their last ten, but have lost three of their last five
• Independence is 6-4 over their last ten games
• Indy is 7-5 on the road this year and have won three of their last five road contests
• Last time against Indy: The Grizzlies overcame a second half deficit late, outscoring the Pirates 20-7 in the fourth quarter to run away with a 72-63 win
• Butler has the #2 scoring defense in the conference and Cowley is third to last in point allowed
• Butler suffered their first loss to an unranked team this year when they lost to Garden City on Saturday. Making them now 20-1 against unranked opponents
• Butler is 12-2 at home this year, have won seven straight in the Power Plant, and are 147-22 at home since 2012
• Independence has won two of the last three games playing at Butler

Last action for the Grizzlies

Saturday, February 25th | Butler 65, Garden City 68 

• The Butler Women suffered an agonizing loss on the road to Garden City this past Saturday
• The Grizzlies allowed an early 20-0 Broncbuster scoring run that proved to be too much to overcome as the Grizzlies fell by three
• The Grizzlies shot under 40% from the field for the third time in the last four games
• The Grizzlies also had an unusually difficult night at the free throw line as they shot just 63.3%, their worst mark since they shot 60% on January against the Tonkawa Mavericks
• Randi Harding put up her best scoring performance of the season, scoring 18 points on an efficient 7/11 shooting mark

Scouting the Pirates 

• The Indy Women are led by former Jim Turgeon in his third season
• Turgeon led the Pirates to the Region VI Championship in each of his first two seasons, winning it 2020-21
• Indy is led in scoring this season by sophomore forward Valentina Ojeda who leads the entire Jayhawk Conference in scoring at 19.8 points per game
  • In the first meeting between Butler and Indy, the Grizzlies held Ojeda to just six points, making Butler one of only four teams this year to hold her to single digits scoring
• The other top scorer for Indy is guard Dyanna Maxey who averages 10.2 points per game
  • Maxey scored a near season high 24 points on the Grizzlies when the teams met back on January 14th

Series Notes (Since 2011)

• Independence leads the series 12-11 since 2011, and they have won four of the last five matchups
• Indy has won two of the last three in the Power Plant
• Butler is 4-5 at home against Independence since 2011
• Indy won the last meeting in the Power Plant 59-58 after the Grizzlies lost a 58-53 lead going into the final minutes

A Grizzly Win would…

• Improve them to 23-6 overall and 18-6 in conference play
• Be their eight straight home win
• Move them to 13-2 at home this season
• Give the Grizzlies the sweep of Independence this season and for the second time in the last three years
• Help the Grizzlies case to receive an at-large bid to the national tournament should they need one

A Grizzly L would…

• Drop them to 22-7 overall and 17-7 in conference play
• Be their second straight loss
• Be their fourth loss in their last six games
• Break their home winning streak
• Be less good than a win

Looking ahead

This game will have no effect on the Grizzlies place in the conference standings as they are locked into the #3 seed in the upcoming Region VI Playoffs. The Grizzlies have clinched a first-round bye and they will host either the #6 seed (likely Seward) or the #11 seed (likely Garden City) sometime early next week.