No. 3 Butler Bounces Back With Win at Colby

COLBY, Kan. – Butler women's basketball bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 58-46 win over Colby at the Colby Event Center on Saturday.

The Grizzlies (13-1, 7-1 KJCCC) won their fifth road game of the season and bounced back from the lopsided loss to No. 11 Hutchinson on Wednesday with the win over the Trojans (4-9, 0-8 KJCCC)

Freddie Wallace led the way with 21 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and two steals for Butler. Maycee James scored 10 to go with nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. Dayuna Colvin added six rebounds and three assists while J'unti Franklin had a team-high tying nine rebounds. Jada Hopson tied a season-high of six points.

Colby was led by Sofia Lopez who tallied 19 points, followed by Dye Boiro Balde with 10 of her own. Butler outrebounded Colby 40-21 and had 34 points in the paint to Colby's 16. The game proved to be a sloppy one with the Trojans turning the ball over 25 times and Butler coughing it up 20 times.

The Grizzlies jumped out to a 10-3 lead quickly in the first quarter, but Colby closed the gap and Butler led just 13-10 after one quarter. The turning point of the game was the second quarter as Butler outscored the Trojans 19-6 to take a 32-16 lead into halftime. Butler held Colby without a point for the first 4:07 of the second quarter going on a 9-0 run and gaining a 19-10 lead in the process. Butler reached its biggest lead of the game with 2:48 until halftime as Alba Cunill hit a three off an assist from Maycee James, making it 28-12.

Colby outscored Butler 30-26 in the second half, but it was too little too late after the second quarter damage the Grizzlies did. The trojans cut the Grizzly lead to nine at one point with 9:11 left in the game, but Butler did enough down the stretch to keep Colby away and get the 12-point victory.

Butler will host the Independence Pirates on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at the Power Plant with tipoff set for 5:30 p.m. CT.