It was a top 15 battle in the Jayhawk conference for the Dodge City women's basketball team as they hit the road to square off with #3 Butler in the final game before the holiday break. It would be a tight battle to the wire and the Conquistadors would have a chance for the final shot but were unable to get a shot off falling 71-69.
The loss moves the Conqs to 11-2 on the season and 5-2 in KJCCC as they head into the holiday break.
Over the first three minutes, it was all Butler as the Grizzlies raced out to an 8-0 advantage, but the Conqs would not be rattled answering with their own 8-0 run to even up the contest with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. The Conqs would snag the lead late in the first quarter and hold the 18-17 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play. Butler opened the second stanza with another strong push outscoring the Conqs 8-2 over the first four minutes and would use that to hold a 39-33 lead at halftime. In the second half, the lead would grow to 10 for Butler on an early run by the Grizzlies but the Conqs sparked by a run led by Parris Atkins cut the lead to one at 48-47 with 4:37 left in the third quarter. The Conqs would hang tight down the stretch and got a big three-pointer by Shorna Preston to tie the game at 63-63 with three minutes left in the contest. In the final minute, Butler led by three but the Conqs would get a shot clock violation on the Grizzlies then would get a free throw by Paris Santacaterina and a teal and bucket by Atkins to tie the contest at 69-69 with 26.5 seconds left. A pair of free throws in the final seconds pushed Butler back in front and the Conqs would have a chance for the final shot of the game but would be unable to get a shot off falling 71-69.
Conqs would shoot 44.8% in the contest but would have 23 turnovers in the contest, while butler shot 42.4% and had 19 turnovers.
Atkins paced the Conqs with 22 points on 9-16 shooting adding eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Santacaterina chipped in 15 points on 4-8 shooting with six rebounds and five assists. Layla-J Cameron and Preston each added seven points each grabbing seven and six rebounds, respectively.
The Conqs now head into the holiday break looking to rest and prepare for the second half of the season which will start back up on Wednesday, January 3rd against Northwest Kansas Tech at 5:30 pm.
