Butler women struggle in close loss at Seward County

The Butler women nearly put an end to a long losing streak to Seward County, but in the end the Saints escaped with a 49-46 victory in Liberal on Saturday and extended their streak to 29 straight wins over the Grizzlies.

Freshman Ashlee Ivy led the Grizzlies with nine points and pulled down five rebounds. Tysia Manual, Shayla Williams and Jamillah Bonner each had seven points.

Ivy opened the game with two consecutive baskets for Butler. The Grizzlies held the lead the entire first half and jumped out to a 13-2 advantage after just 12 minutes of play. The 11-point lead would be the largest of the game for the Grizzlies, who led Seward 23-19 at halftime.

Seward quickly took the lead in the second half when Madison McLain hit a three-pointer at the 18-minute mark to give the Saints a 29-26 lead. McLain finished with a game-high 18 points and hit four three-pointers for the Saints. Butler made an 8-0 run to retake the lead, 37-32, with 7:45 to play.

However, Seward would score nine straight points to go up 41-37. The Saints would not relinquish the lead, although Butler had a couple looks on the final possession of the game to tie.

Despite forcing 28 turnovers, the Grizzlies struggled shooting from the field where they hit just 27 percent (18-of-65). The shooting woes continued at the charity stripe, where Butler made just 8-of-20 from the line.

Butler (16-5 overall, 4-3 Jayhawk West) will next play Dodge City at the Power Plant on Wednesday. Tipoff for the game is at 5:30 p.m.