Lady Saints rally to knock off No. 23 Butler, 63-57

LIBERAL, Kan. – Behind Ari Gordon's career-high 27 points and a massive fourth quarter, the Lady Saints basketball team rallied to a 63-57 come-from-behind victory over the No. 23 Butler Grizzlies on Tuesday at the Greenhouse.

Seward improved to 2-0 in conference play and 6-2 overall. SCCC hosts Pratt at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the Greenhouse.

The game started with a familiar tone for the Lady Saints, falling behind early and then chipping back later with an opportunity to win it. In its contests against McCook and Cloud County, Seward trailed big and made a push at the end, but fell short.

It seemed as if the same script would be written again against Butler. The Lady Saints struggled out of the gate, falling behind 14-6 after one quarter and 30-16 at the half. The Grizzlies scored the first four points of the third quarter and opened up a 34-16 advantage. Seward would not go away and cut the margin to 10 at 43-33 after three quarters.

The Lady Saints began their surge and tightened their defense in the fourth quarter. Down 49-41, Kylee Hunt and Gordon nailed three pointers to whittle the margin to two at 49-47 with just under six minutes remaining. Gordon scored the next three points, hitting one of two free throws and making a layup to give Seward a 50-49 lead at 4:08 left.

Unlike at McCook and Cloud, the Lady Saints did what they could not do in those games, come back all the way and take the lead. They did it this time with the help of a raucous crowd at the Greenhouse.

The Grizzlies did answer back with a three to regain the lead, but RaMaya Kennedy responded for the Lady Saints with her own three pointer and Seward never looked back. SCCC outscored Butler 30-14 in the final quarter.

In addition to Gordon's 27 points, which included 4-of-7 from three-point range and 11-of-18 from the free-throw line, she also had five rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Hunt added 10 points and five assists for Seward.

Keegan Yarick had 13 points and Lucia Lara and Kenzie Galliart each scored 12 points to lead Butler, which suffered its first loss of the season. The Grizzlies fell to 1-1 in conference play and 6-1 overall.