Defense Holds Strong in Final Seconds as No. 3 Butler Prevails over No. 14 Dodge City

EL DORADO, Kan. – A pair of Freddie Wallace free throws and a defensive stop in the final seconds gave the No. 3 ranked Butler Grizzlies a 71-69 win over No. 14 Dodge City on Saturday afternoon at the Power Plant.

The Grizzlies (12-0, 6-0 KJCCC) remain unbeaten and on top of the conference standings alongside Hutchinson heading into winter break. The two teams will face off at the Power Plant on Wednesday, Jan. 3 to open the spring semester. Dodge City (11-2, 5-2) lost just its second game of the season.

With the game tied at 69 all and 9.4 seconds to play, Wallace was fouled going up for a layup. She knocked down both free throws, breaking the tie and putting Butler ahead by two.

Dodge City called timeout following the free throws, advancing the ball up the floor as head coach Landon Steele attempted to draw up a play for the Conquistadors to either tie or win the game. DCCC threw the ball in but Dayuna Colvin's tough on ball defense thwarted the first option and the Conqs were unable to get off a shot before time expired.

"I'm thrilled to death," said head coach Mike Helmer. "They're a great team and we knew it was going to be a dog fight."

The game saw six ties and six lead changes. Dodge City led 18-17 after the first quarter, the first time all season that Butler has trailed after the first quarter.

Butler responded with a game-high 22-point second quarter, outscoring the Conqs by seven. The Grizzlies put together a 9-2 run with the score tied at 20, taking a 29-22 lead. Alba Cunill hit a three, Wallace converted two layups, and Colvin got a steal and drove down the court for a breakaway layup as Butler seized some momentum. The Grizzlies eventually went into halftime with a 39-33 lead.

The Grizzlies opened up the second half on fire, grabbing a 10-point lead just two minutes in. The 10-point lead was the biggest of the game. Dodge City fought back, cutting the deficit to one at 48-47 as Parris Atkins made a layup with 4:43 to go. The rest of the third quarter was a battle but Butler led 55-53 at the end of it.

It was a close fourth quarter to the end. Butler led for a majority until Dodge City tied the game with 2:52 left as Layla-J Cameron made a three, tying the game at 66.

"I did not think we played well," said Helmer. "We did not follow the scout well and we made some mistakes that we normally don't make. But I would rather learn from a win than a loss."

Wallace led Butler with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Dayuna Colvin did some of everything, finishing with 11 points, a team-high seven assists, four steals and four rebounds. Maycee James chipped in 11 points four steals and three assists. Dodge City's Parris Atkins had a game-high 22 points to go with eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Paris Santacaterina had 15 points, five assists and two rebounds for the Conqs.

Butler shot 42.4% from the field with Dodge City shooting 44.8%. Each team brought down 36 rebounds and turnovers were fairly even with Butler having 19 and Dodge City 23.