Helmer Earns 400th Win as No. 8 Butler Outlasts Coffeyville in Thriller

EL DORADO, Kan. – Butler head coach Mike Helmer secured his 400th career win with the Grizzlies on Wednesday night as No. 8 Butler edged Coffeyville 67–64 in a thriller at the Power Plant.

As expected, the matchup between the Grizzlies and Red Ravens delivered plenty of drama. Butler faced early adversity when forward Aliyah Green picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter, forcing her to the bench. Coffeyville capitalized on her absence, dominating the offensive glass and building an 18–11 lead after one.

The Red Ravens stretched their advantage to 22–11 with 8:40 left in the second quarter, their largest lead of the night. Butler chipped away, but Coffeyville pushed the margin back to 25–17 after a three-pointer with 6:49 remaining. From there, the Grizzlies completely flipped the momentum, closing the half on a 14–0 run to take a 31–25 lead into the break. In total, Butler outscored Coffeyville 20–3 over the final 8:40 of the half.

Coffeyville regained the lead 38–37 with 5:15 left in the third quarter, setting the stage for a back-and-forth finish that featured 11 lead changes. Butler appeared to gain control late, going up 54–47 with 4:30 remaining, but the Red Ravens rallied once more and went ahead 56–55 with 2:57 to play.

Sophomore Keegan Yarick delivered the game's biggest shot, knocking down a jumper in front of the Butler bench to put the Grizzlies ahead 60–59 with 1:11 left. Coffeyville missed a layup on the next possession, and although Butler misfired on a three, Elina Syniakova grabbed the offensive rebound and scored to extend the lead to 62–59 with 14 seconds remaining.

After a Coffeyville timeout, the Red Ravens committed a costly backcourt violation with 11 seconds left. Yarick was fouled and sank both free throws. Ashley Singhateh added one of two at the line to make it 65–61 with six seconds remaining. Coffeyville's Mahogany Butler drilled a deep three—her only basket of the night—with 1.3 seconds left, but Yarick was fouled on the inbound with 0.1 seconds on the clock and calmly hit both free throws to seal the 67–64 victory.

Butler shot 42.9 percent from the field but struggled from deep, going 4-of-22 (18.2 percent). The Grizzlies finished 15-of-23 at the line. Coffeyville shot just 31.8 percent overall but stayed alive with 10 made threes. The Red Ravens outrebounded Butler 40–31 but committed 19 turnovers to Butler's 16.

Singhateh led the Grizzlies with 15 points and filled the stat sheet with nine rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block. Syniakova provided a major spark off the bench with 11 points, four rebounds, and four blocks.

With the win, Butler improves to 18–1 overall and 12–1 in Jayhawk Conference play, maintaining its hold on first place. Coffeyville drops to 15–4 and 9–4 in conference action.

Next up: Butler travels to No. 18 Hutchinson on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.