The Butler women started out the New Year with a bang, defeating the Barton Cougars 79-71 behind a big performance from Tamara Nard on Saturday at the Power Plant.
Nard finished with 17 points and six rebounds, whle RaVon Nero added 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals as the Grizzlies improved to 11-5 overall.
"Having that many days off for a break, you are always worried about how you will come out in the first game back," commented Grizzly head coach Mike Helmer. "I am proud of how we hung in there and got it done today."
The Grizzlies used their defensive intensity in the first quarter forcing nine Barton turnovers to take an 18-10 lead after the first ten minutes. Barton settled in and knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 22-22 with 6:51 left in the second.
After a Butler timeout, Zayda Perez answered with a deep trey giving Butler the lead, which they not relinquish the remainder of the game. RaVon Nero finished off the quarter with consecutive layups giving Butler a 37-30 halftime lead.
RaVon Nero scored five of her 16 points early in the third extending Butler's lead to 11. Barton would threaten multiple times in the quarter, but the Grizzlies held off the Cougar runs and held a 59-51 heading into the final quarter of play.
The Grizzlies took their largest lead of the game after a Camille Downs basket giving Butler a 14-point, 67-53 lead with 7:00 to play in the game. Barton continued to chip away at the Grizzly lead, but never came closer than seven points.
Four Grizzly starters scored in double figures, while 17 points came from the bench. In addition to Nard and Nero, Zayda Perez scored 12 while Jaelynn McLaurian had a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Helmer noted that Butler's defense was the difference in the game, as the Grizzlies forced 26 Cougar turnovers and scored 27 points off of turnovers.
"We haven't been able to tighten up the screws on the defensive side of the ball yet," said Helmer, "We need to be better at that but we did make some plays and were able to convert on those defensive plays."
Butler (11-5, 4-2) will turn their focus to Pratt (10-4, 4-1) as they face the Beavers on Wednesday, January 8 in El Dorado at 5:30pm.
"We are going to have to be better on Wednesday against Pratt. They are the most improved team right now and we will have to be better than today," finished Helmer.
