Neither Coffeyville team found its way into the win column Wednesday, as the women were defeated by Butler 82-51 and the men 61-52.
The Coffeyville women were looking to pick up the upset over a favored Butler team, ranked #7 in the latest NJCAA polls. However, the team found itself trailing for the vast majority of the contest, and struggling to put the ball through the basket. Coffeyville shot 14-for-59 for just 23.7% from the field, a season low. The defense held out for awhile, limiting the Grizzlies offense to just 32 points in the first half, but a 29-9 third quarter blew the game wide open. That allowed Butler to coast the rest of the way, despite a much more solid fourth quarter effort from the Ravens.
Faith Simpson led all scorers with 19 on 5-of-11 shooting. She was the only Raven to reach double digits. Coffeyville is now 9-2 on the season and 4-2 in Jayhawk Conference play.
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The Raven men, meanwhile, have continued to battle injuries and sickness through the start of the 2021 campaign, but still looked to have a chance to defeat the 15th-ranked Grizzlies. With both teams struggling to get going offensively, and a lax whistle that only resulted in eight first half free throws, the Ravens led by a paltry score of 23-22 at the half. Unfortunately, that slim lead wouldn't last. After trading blows, and building their lead to 42-38 with only 8 minutes to go, Coffeyville would embark upon a long scoring drought. It proved to be costly, as Butler took over, and eventually pulled away, for the 9-point victory.
Noah Butler was the only Raven to reach double digits in the men's game, picking up 10. The men are now 5-5 on the season, 2-2 in conference play.
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Both teams will look to gain back some momentum this Saturday, as they travel to Great Bend to take on the Barton Cougars. Pregame will start at 1:30 PM, with tipoff at 2 PM, on US98.1, KUSN.
