Grizzly Women Exact Revenge on Cowley, Push on to Region 6 Semifinals

EL DORADO, Kan. – Resiliency was the name of the game for the Butler Grizzlies women's basketball team on Tuesday evening.

Four seed Butler moved on to the semifinals of the Region 6 Tournament with an 88-78 win over the fifth seeded Cowley Tigers at the Power Plant. The win comes just six days after Cowley took down Butler 69-45 in the regular season finale in El Dorado, handing the Grizzlies their second worst loss of the season.

Butler will take on the top seeded Dodge City Conquistadors in the semifinal round of the Region 6 Tournament on Friday at 1 p.m. from Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.

The Grizzlies flipped the script on Tuesday, controlling the game as they forced 21 Cowley turnovers, outrebounded the Tigers 27-21 and outscored them in the paint 42-32.

"I thought we played unbelievable defense in the first half," said head coach Mike Helmer. Offensively, our movement and getting the ball to open shooters is what the difference was."

Butler shot 11-24 (45.8%) from three while holding Cowley to 6-19 (31.6%) from deep. The contrast was large as Butler shot 2-26 from distance and Cowley shot 15-38 in the regular season finale a week ago.

Early in the first quarter it looked as if the Tigers had not cooled off from last week as they opened an 8-0 lead on the Grizzlies three minutes in. The Grizzlies responded however as a pair of freshmen guards, Destiny Smith and Mya Mayberry, each canned a triple to put Butler on the board. Mayberry hit another three a few minutes later but Cowley ended the first quarter with a 15-14 advantage.

The second quarter saw Butler freshman guard Ashley Singhateh bury back-to-back threes in the final two minutes to send the Grizzlies to halftime with a 36-29 lead as they outscored the Tigers 22-14 in the period.

Singhateh led the way for Butler finishing with 24 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. It was her team-leading seventh 20+ point game of the season.

Butler scored 26 points each in the third and fourth quarters, at several points in both quarters leading by 19, their largest lead of the game. Cowley scored 32 fourth quarter points and made it an 11-point game with 5:13 to play but the Grizzlies never allowed them within 10.

The Grizzlies shot 50.8% (33-65) from the field and saw Smith (17 points) and Keegan Yarick (12 points) join Singhateh in double figures. Mayberry had eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Cowley shot 54.3% and were led by Elysa Martinez's 24 points. Jaiden Smith added 14 and Mallory Jackson had 12.

"The student section today was great," said Helmer. "Our fan support this season at the Power Plant has been amazing. I want to thank everyone who supported us at home this season."

Notes:

• Grizzlies advance to semifinals of Region 6 Tournament for third straight season, fifth time in last six seasons.
• Butler is now 1-2 vs. Cowley in Region 6 Quarterfinal Games after losing back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018.
• Butler is 6-1 this season when Singhateh scores 20 or more points.
• The Grizzlies made 11 threes, their fifth game of the season making 10 or more. They are 5-0 in those games.