DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Butler women are headed back to the Region VI Championship game for the second consecutive year after the Grizzlies defeated Seward County 70-65 in Monday's semifinal round from United Wireless Arena.
Grizzly freshman Tamara Nard scored 22 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore guard Camille Downs had her third double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 boards.
Butler (24-8 overall) will battle Barton (18-15) in Tuesday's 7:00 p.m. title game. The Cougars knocked off Jayhawk West champion Hutchinson 58-57, with the Cougars getting a game-winning 3-pointer from Vanessa Oduah with 2.3 seconds remaining.
Against Seward, Nard played just 17 minutes in the contest due to foul trouble. Nard scored 10 points before picking up her second foul with 2:28 left in the opening quarter. She returned after halftime to help the Grizzlies build a 15-point lead before picking up quick two fouls early in the fourth quarter.
"All year, we've had kids coming off the bench ready to make certain plays and we had opportunities to do that tonight," said Butler head coach Mike Helmer, who will be coaching in his third Region VI final. "Scoring-wise and even rebounding-wise, Camille really carried us."
Behind Nard and Downs, Butler came out firing by hitting its first five shots and building a 15-2 lead just 5:29 into the contest. Nard scored nine points during the run – including seven straight with a 3-point play and two inside baskets.
With Nard out and Butler leading 20-10, the Grizzlies kept the same offensive intensity behind Maddy Willis-Rosa, as she scored six of Butler's next eight points for a 28-12 advantage early in the second quarter.
Seward (25-7) built momentum heading into halftime with a 12-3 run to end the half, as Butler led 34-29 at the break.
Nard returned in the second half to help Butler build a 47-32 lead with 5:08 left in the third quarter. Just like the start of the first quarter, the Grizzlies came out of the locker room controlling the second-half start with a 14-3 run.
Jaelynn McLaurian and Downs made consecutive baskets to open the third quarter, then after Seward's Karolina Szydlowska hit a 3-pointer, Butler scored the next nine points – including a Nard 3-point play. Downs and Jelesa Gross ended the run with back-to-back field goals.
"Having 'T' coming back in after halftime helped us a lot, because they can't stop her," Downs said of Nard. "She drove every time to the basket every time we ran a play for her.
The Grizzlies carried the double-digit lead into the fourth quarter, leading 56-46 following a Downs basket at the 8:45 mark. However, Nard would pick up two fouls in a 34-second span and return to the bench with 7:41 remaining.
"I felt like I let my team down," Nard said about picking up her fourth foul. "I felt like the game was going to be over, but I kept my composure and I was just cheering my team on and hoping for the best.
Seward immediately took advantage with a 6-0 run to trim Butler's lead to 56-52 at the 6:12 mark. Butler managed to get the lead back to eight with a Jelesa Gross basket and two foul shots from Wills-Rosa.
"We understood what was on the line and we knew we had to knock those down," said Wills-Rosa, who came off the bench to score eight points along with four rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes of play.
With Butler holding a 66-62 lead with 1:18 to play, Seward's Szydlowska was whistled for a travel. From that point on, Seward went 0-for-4 from the field and made just 3-of-6 foul shots to end the game.
Butler shot just 34.8 percent (24-of-69) from the field, just edging out the Saints' 33.3 percent clip (22-of-66). The Grizzlies won despite making just 1-of-16 3-point attempts.
"We didn't shoot well tonight, but we were smothering at times on defense," Helmer said. "I think that had we not fouled a couple of times, it would have been one of our greatest defensive performances that I've had my 12 years.
"We did just enough to hang on at the end," Helmer added. "We felt like we had a good game plan. I think the girls believed in the game plan and thought that if we did those things the right way, we would be ok."
Alanis Hall led the Saints with 15 points, while Tianna Johnson and Leilani Augmon scored 11 points each.
With both Seward and Hutchinson out in the semifinal round, it marks the first time since 2008 there will be a women's final without either team participating. Both teams will be in line to receive at-large bids for the NJCAA National Tournament after being the lone Jayhawk representatives in the last regular-season poll (Hutch was ranked ninth, while Seward was ranked 18th).
"All your brackets are screwed up because nobody was saying Butler and Barton in the finals," Helmer joked in the post-game interview. "(Hutch and Seward) both deserve to be in the national tournament. They've earned that right having great runs this year. They're both phenomenal programs, but give Barton all the credit in the world. They did everything they needed to do to get here and we'll take that same credit back."
Butler defeated Barton 79-71 back on Jan. 4 in El Dorado, as the Grizzlies had four players score in double figures – led by 17 points and six rebounds from Nard. After dropping a 53-44 road loss to Seward and an 86-67 home defeat to Hutchinson, the Cougars are riding a four-game winning streak into Tuesday's final.
With eight wins over the last nine games, Butler is also peaking at the right time – knowing full well that a win is the only route to qualifying for the national tourney.
"We knew coming into it we need to make a run here," Helmer said. "That's what we've done and we've put ourselves in position. There is no at-large bid for us had we lost one of these two games. That's not even an option. Now we're in a situation where we control our own destiny. We've just got to rise to the occasion, do what we do and see what happens."
