It was a Top 25 clash of top-tier KJCCC teams on Wednesday as the #16 Dodge City women's basketball team hosted #21 Butler and the Conquistadors would avenge an early two-point road loss with a 72-63 overtime win.
The Conqs with the win improve to 21-4 on the season and 15-4 in KJCCC action, while moving to 9-1 at home this season and have now won five of the last six meetings with Butler.
The Conqs would open the contest taking early control working to a 12-4 advantage in the first quarter and using that early lead to be up 19-13 at the end of the first 10 minutes. The second stanza would be slow going for both teams for a while, but the Conqs managed to maintain the lead behind the early surge in the game and take a 33-26 advantage into halftime. The third quarter would see offensive struggles for Conqs going scoreless for a long stretch allowing Butler to snag the lead and be in front 41-39 entering the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies of Butler would outscore the Conqs 15-6 in the third the Conqs would push back. The game would be tight the rest of regulation as it was knotted at 55-55 in the final minute. After a missed shot by the Conqs Butler had the ball with just over 30 seconds remaining and would work the clock down for the final shot of regulation and it would come up short as the Conqs pushed the game into overtime. A 7-0 spurt to open the extra period gave the Conqs the control and they would hold on to it hitting some free throws down the stretch along with some clutch buckets leading to the 72-63 win.
While the Conqs shot just 38.1% from the floor they hit 12 three-pointers were 12-14 from the charity stripe and overcame 25 turnovers. Butler would shoot just 32.4% from the floor and go 1-17 from three-point range and have 20 turnovers.
It was 19 points on 8-16 shooting from
Parris Atkins that led the way for the Conqs as she added three rebounds and three assists.
Paris Santacaterina chipped in 12 points with six rebounds, five assists, and four steals, while
Tayah Morgan off the bench added 11 points on 3-6 shooting and 2-2 free throws.
Shorna Preston had a strong night with nine points, 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and six blocks.
The Conqs hit the road to travel to Goodland, Kansas on Saturday, February 17th to take on Northwest Kansas Tech in their next game in a 3:00 pm (2:00 pm MST) tipoff.
