Grizzlies Snap No. 16 Red Ravens 11-Game Win Streak, Reach 20 Wins

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. – 16th ranked Coffeyville's last two losses have come at the hands of the Butler Grizzlies.

Butler (20-5, 15-5 KJCCC) handed Coffeyville (21-4, 16-4) a 56-52 loss at Nellis Hall on Thursday evening. The Grizzlies reached the 20-win milestone as they snapped an 11-game Coffeyville win streak, pulling within a game of the third place Ravens in the conference standings. Coffeyville's last loss before Thursday was the first meeting with the Grizzlies on Jan. 4th, in a 52-48 Grizzly win at the Power Plant.

The Grizzly defense continued to shine as Butler holds the number one scoring defense in the conference. They held the Ravens to their second lowest output of the season, 52 points. The lowest came in the teams' first meeting as Butler held them to a season-low 48 points.

Both teams shot it at a similar clip with Butler shooting 21-58 (36.2%) and Coffeyville shooting 20-57 (35.1%). Butler was 4-19 from three with the Ravens shooting 7-27 from deep. The Grizzlies turned the ball over 17 times and Coffeyville had 12 giveaways.

What proved to be the difference in the game was the rebounding margin as Butler outrebounded Coffeyville 47-28 and had 15 second chance points compared to Coffeyville's two. Butler continues to be the best statistical rebounding team in the conference.

The game was tied 12 times and saw five lead changes. Butler jumped out to a 4-0 lead off two Kenzie Galliart jump shots but the Ravens responded with a 10-0 run taking a 10-4 lead. Destiny Smith closed the quarter hitting two threes to give Butler an 18-14 lead.

Coffeyville's Norika Welch hit consecutive threes midway through the second quarter giving the Red Ravens a 26-23 lead but Butler's Mya Mayberry hit a top of the key three and Keegan Yarick converted an old fashioned three point play in the final two minutes of the half and Butler headed to the locker room leading 29-26.

Butler led by seven multiple times in the third quarter and headed to the fourth quarter ahead 41-36. The Ravens cut Butler's lead to three at 53-50 with 22 seconds to play. Welch got a look at the game-tying three with 16 seconds to play but Grizzly forward Lucia Lara got a hand on it for a block and Yarick recovered the rebound as Butler proceeded to ice the game with free throws.

Lara finished with her second double-double of the season, 13 points and 12 rebounds. Galliart led Butler with 16 points to go with five rebounds. Yarick pulled down eight rebounds while Mayberry had eight points and eight rebounds off the bench. Coffeyville was led by Welch's game-high 19 points while Karys Washington added 14 points.

Butler turns its attention to No. 8 ranked Hutchinson on Saturday as they travel to the Sports Arena for a 2 p.m. tip.