Seward Hangs On to Sneak Past Butler 61-58

For the second straight game to start the Jayhawk Conference schedule, the Seward County Lady Saints had to take on a team Wednesday night whose season they ended a year ago as they traveled to El Dorado to take on the Butler Grizzlies.  As expected, Seward had a dog fight on their hands most of the night, but despite just a three point second quarter, the Lady Saints escaped the Power Plant with a 61-58 win thanks in large part to a 24 point effort from Mollie Mounsey and a 20 point, 12 rebound double-double from Clitan de Sousa to improve to 4-0 on the year. 

The Lady Saints came out firing Wednesday night against the Grizzlies, launching three pointers on six of their first eight shot attempts, hitting a pair of them to take an early 8-4 lead on Butler.  After a Mollie Mounsey bucket, four straight points from Clitan de Sousa pushed the Seward lead to eight at 14-6 and the Lady Saints pitched in four more before the first quarter horn to hold an 18-11 lead after one.  In the first, Mounsey and de Sousa combined for 16 of the 18 Seward points with a late layup from Neidy Ocuane accounting for the only other score of the first 10 minutes. 

The second was definitely more of a struggle for the Lady Saints as Seward turned the ball over on each of their first three possessions and had just one basket in the first seven minutes of the period as Butler slowly erased the Lady Saints lead and took a four point lead of their own at 24-20.  An Ocuane free throw was the only point that Seward scored in the final 8:08 of the quarter as they went to the half now trailing by a count of 28-21.

Seward was 1 for 12 shooting in the second quarter and 0 for 7 from the three point line to finish the half at 24% from the field and just 13% from beyond the arc.

Whatever Seward County Head Coach Toby Wynn said in the locker room at half must have worked as the Lady Saints came out of the break by scoring the first seven points to tie the game and back to back threes from Mounsey moments later gave them the lead back at 34-30.   Butler recovered and retook the lead momentarily at 40-38 before Joanna Grymek scored in the final minute to knot the game up at 40 after three. 

Mounsey continued her big night with another long ball out of the break to put Seward in front by three and Grymek and de Sousa connected on shots to, like the third, give the Lady Saints the first seven points of the fourth quarter to put them up 47-40.  Seward stretched their lead all the way to nine at 53-44 midway through the fourth and it looked like they had things in hand, but then the Grizzlies roared back, holding the Lady Saints without a field goal for nearly five minutes during a 14-4 run to take the lead back 58-57. Out of a Seward timeout, Mounsey came up huge again, burying her sixth three pointer of the night with under a minute to go to give the Lady Saints a two point lead, 60-58 and Seward would come up with a stop on defense and were fouled with under one second to go, making a free throw and escaping the Power Plant with a thrilling 61-58 victory to win their fourth straight contest to begin the year. 

The Lady Saints claimed victory despite shooting just 32% overall and 22% from the three point line on the night.  Outside of Mounsey's six three point makes, Seward finished 0 for 13 from deep.  Mounsey and de Sousa carried the load as Mounsey finished with a game high 24 and de Sousa turned in a 20 point, 12 rebound double-double in the win. 

Seward County improves to 4-0 overall on the year and 2-0 in Jayhawk Conference play while Butler drops to 3-2 and loses their second straight close one in conference action to fall to 0-2. 

Things won't get any easier for the Lady Saints in their next matchup as they welcome the Cloud County Thunderbirds to the Greenhouse Saturday night for a 6:00 tip.  Free tickets are available courtesy of our buyout sponsor Conestoga at their Liberal offices or at Pizza Hut and Hutch's in Liberal.

#20 SEWARD COUNTY/BUTLER BOX SCORE