Lady Saints Lock Down Butler For Quarterfinal Win

The #24 Seward County Lady Saints remained red hot Tuesday afternoon in Park City's Hartman Arena, using a shutdown defense over the final three quarters to knock off the Butler Lady Grizzlies 77-61 to advance to the Region VI Tournament round of four on Wednesday.

It only took the Lady Saints 12 seconds to get on the board Tuesday and a Daniela Galindo three feathering through the net was a sign of things to come on this night in Park City.  Surprisingly, the conference's top two defenses were mildly ineffective early on as the Lady Saints and Lady Grizzlies combined for 19 points in the first 3:15 with Butler holding a 10-9 lead.  A 6-0 run for Seward pushed the Lady Saints back in front, but a five minute dry spell without a point for the Lady Saints allowed Butler to grab the lead back 18-17 after one. 

As the teams continued to go back and forth, Seward pounded the ball inside early to Joanna Grymek for their first five points of the second quarter before her second foul of the contest sent her to the bench for the final 9 minutes.  With Butler up one later on, back to back Galindo threes swished home and just like that the Lady Saints were back in front by five, 31-26 midway through the second.  Seward stretched their lead all the way to 10 on a pair of Leslie Speer free throws with just under two minutes to go in the half and that is the cushion that the Lady Saints carried into the break, leading 39-29. 

Seward shot 60% in the second quarter to finish the half at 55% overall while the Lady Saints held the Grizzlies to just 3 second quarter field goals and 23% from the floor.  Grymek dominated the inside, scoring 12 first half points on 6 of 6 shooting despite playing just 11 minutes due to foul trouble, while Galindo owned the outside, going for 11 including a trio from beyond the arc. 

The Lady Saints stretched their lead to 14 early in the second half after four more points for Grymek and held a double digit lead throughout the duration of the third quarter until a late bucket for Butler cut the Seward lead to 53-44 after three. 

Butler cut the Seward lead down to seven early in the fourth quarter and had a chance to do more damage until Galindo picked off a cross court pass and took it the other way for a layup to push the lead back to nine with 8:01 remaining.  After Butler once again made it a seven point game with a bucket on their next trip down the floor, the Lady Saints went back to Grymek for a three point play inside to extend their lead back to 10.  The Grizzlies never threatened again.  Seward extended their lead all the way to 16 before putting Butler away in the final minutes at the free throw line to win it 77-61 and survive to see another day. 

Seward shot 51% in the game, holding Butler to 36% overall and just 32% in the second half.  Grymek led the way for Seward, scoring a game high 23 points on 10 of 11 shooting while Galindo scored 18 on 7 of 11 from the floor.  As a team Seward dished out 23 assists on 29 made baskets. 

Seward improves to 24-7 on the year with the win, advancing to the Region VI Semifinal for the second straight year while the Grizzlies see their 2015-2016 campaign come to a close at 24-8. 

The Lady Saints will now turn their attention to rival Hutchinson on Wednesday where they will take on the Dragons in the rubber game of a third meeting this season at 3:00 at Hartman Arena with a trip to the Region VI Tournament final on the line. 

#24 SEWARD COUNTY/BUTLER BOX SCORE