The Lady Saints falls short 63-62 to the Grizzlies

By: Kenny Hernandez

LIBERAL, Kan. - Seward County Community College fell in their home opener to Butler Community College 63-62 in the Greenhouse on Saturday, November 19th. The Lady Saints had the ball with four seconds left but could not get a shot off as Butler stole in the inbound as the buzzer went off. Seward County is now 1-3 on the year and 1-1 in the KJCCC and will be back in action at Colby on November 22nd at 5:30 p.m. CT. 

D'Arrah Allen led the Lady Saints with 16 points and went 5-18 from the field. Halima Salat added 15 points, and Kylee Hunt provided nine points with five assists in the contest. 

In the first quarter, the Lady Saints trailed 10-2 as the Grizzlies started strong on offense. Seward County faced its largest deficit of the quarter, 15-4 and after a three by Allen cut the lead back down to single digits, 15-7. This started an 11-2 run for the Lady Saints, and it turned into a single-possession game with 3:43 left in the 1st quarter. Butler went on a 5-0 run to take a 22-15 at the end of the first quarter over Seward County.

To start the second quarter, the Lady Saints went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for the first time, 23-22, over the Grizzlies. Both teams exchanged baskets with three lead changes in the quarter. A three-ponter by Ariana Escalante gave the Lady Saints a 26-24 advantage, and Seward County kept the lead to end the first half with a 28-24 lead. 

Allen started the third quarter with a lay-up to give the Lady Saints their largest contest lead, 30-24, with 9:40 left in the quarter. Butler responded with an 8-0 run to take a 32-30 lead over Seward County halfway through the third. With seconds left before the fourth quarter, Halima Salat connected on a pair of free throws to give Seward County a 44-41 advantage going into the final ten minutes of action. 

In the first minute of the final quarter, the Lady Saints and Grizzlies were tied at 44-44 as the game continued to stay a procession game. Butler took a 55-48 lead with 4:23 left in the contest, and Seward County looked to storm back from behind again. Seward County trailed 59-53, and the Lady Saints' Halima Salat caught on fire with back-to-back threes to tie the game at 59-59. With a lay-up by Butler, the Grizzlies led 63-60 with 1:26 remaining in the contest.

With a 63-62 deficit, the Lady Saints looked to inbound the ball from the half-court line with four seconds left. The inbound went up for grabs as two Lady Saints collided with a Butler player for the ball the Grizzlies secured it as the buzzer sounded. In the last two minutes, Seward County did not make a field goal and fell short 63-62 in the Greenhouse.

The Lady Saints will travel to Colby on Tuesday to take on the Trojans at 5:30 p.m. CT before the Thanksgiving break.