Grizzlies ride past the NW Tech Mavericks behind second half surge

Story by Wyatt Ebersole

The Butler Women avoided the upset attempt from the NW Tech Mavericks Wednesday night using a second half burst that allowed the Grizzlies to pull away and collect the 71-60 victory. The win is the Grizzlies seventh straight and it moves them to 17-3 overall and 12-3 in conference play. The win, combined with a loss by Barton to Cowley, means that the Grizzlies are in sole possession of second place in the conference and trail first place Dodge City by 1.5 games. The loss for NW Tech sends them to 7-13 overall and a gloomy 3-12 in conference play, only ahead of Colby who is 0-13.

The Mavericks came out ready to play against the fatigued Grizzlies who had played Colby just 24 hours before the tip-off of this game and the Mavericks had a 9-6 advantage on the Grizzlies midway through the first quarter. The Grizzlies would gain a lead that they would ultimately never relinquish after a Maycee James layup made it 10-9 with 2:49 left to play. Butler would gain their first two possession lead on the final basket of the quarter when Jaila Harding splashed in a three that made it 17-12 Butler after the first 10 minutes.
The Grizzlies got off to a nice start in the second quarter, going on a quick 6-2 run that seemed like it might be the start of something bigger. The Mavericks had other plans, going on a 6-0 run of their own to pull them back within three with 5:40 left at 23-20. The Grizzlies would end up leading by five or seven points the rest of the quarter until the 26 second mark when NW Tech converted three free throws to pull themselves within two points heading into the halftime break at 31-29. 

NW Tech found the first basket of the half to tie the game at 31 all briefly, before Freddie Wallace made a free throw to break the tie. The Grizzlies would on a 9-2 run and again, it seemed like the Grizzlies may start to run away, but again NW Tech answered to keep the game close. The Grizzlies would eventually grow their lead up to eight and ended the quarter up 51-43 on the Mavs. 

The Grizzlies took a double-digit lead in the game for the first time after J'unti Franklin layup that made it 53-43. The Butler Women continued to work and after a 7-0 run by Freddie Wallace alone, the Grizzlies led 60-48 with 6:15 left to play. The Grizzlies lead would eventually be pushed all the way out to 16 after a Dayuna Colvin layup and that seemed to put the game out of reach if it wasn't already and the Butler Women earned win #17 with a final score of 71-60. 

The long week of work for the women continue on Saturday when the Grizzlies host Pratt at 2PM. 

NOTES: The Butler Women are 6-0 against NW Tech since the Mavericks began their NJCAA Division 1 program in 2018…This was the closest of any of the games Butler and NW Tech have played so far in their history…Freddie Wallace finished with her sixth 20+ point performance of the year and her fifth 25+ point performance…Butler is 17-1 this year when Freddie Wallace scores 10+ points and 0-2 when she doesn't…Butler had more turnovers in this game (25) than they have had in any of their last 13 games