DODGE CITY

LADY CONQUISTADOR BASKETBALL

Conqs women overcome hot-shooting Grizzlies

By John Curtis www.dodgeglobe.com

There just seemed to be no stopping Butler guard Elizabeth Witte as she hit her ninth and tenth three-point baskets early in the second half at the Civic Center.
Then Dodge City Conquistadors guard Seda Erdogan drew the assignment to guard Witte in a box-and-one defense for the Dodge City Conquistadors.

Erdogan allowed Witte to hit only one more three-pointer and the Conqs were able to comeback and record their third straight Jayhawk West win, a 79-75 victory over Butler Sunday afternoon at the Civic Center.

"I knew I had to stop her because she was the only scoring and keeping her team up," Erdogan said. "I had to step up and I think I did a good job.

"We played really hard and No. 33 (Witte) is a good shooter. It had been very frustrating for us."

Witte had scored 26 of her team's 40 points in the first half with the help of eight three-point baskets; and she hit two more threes in the first two minutes of the second half as the Grizzlies pushed ahead. But Witte didn't make another field goal until she hit a three-pointer with two minutes remaining in the game and finished with 37 points.

The Grizzlies as a whole were able to get a number of shots in the basket despite the pressure the Dodge City defense was placing on them.

"Could our defense be better? Yeah," said Dodge City head coach Jim Turgeon. "We ran into a hot team and Witte was just incredible. That was more about what happened than that our defense was poor."

The Conqs (15-4, 3-2 Jayhawk West) was able to withstand a number of Butler runs with the two teams tied at 75-apiece with two minutes left.

But Chanelle Freeman hit a short basket with 1:35 left in regulation, the Dodge City defense stopped the Butler offense on three drives, and two free throws by Kezia Snell with 7.2 seconds left sealed the win for Dodge City.

"We played a lot of close games and we lost our first two," Turgeon said. "Now we've won two close games and I think the kids are learning how to play the last few minutes of the game.

"I'm still not particularly happy with the offense. I thought we shot way too early and in a hurry, and then at the end, I thought we were still shooting the ball way too early. We'll work and get better at it."

Aroha Jennings led Dodge City with 22 points and six rebounds, while Beth Troutt added 20 points in the win. Other double figure scorers include Erdogan with 12 and Freeman with 10.

BUTLER (75) Q L. Gray 6-17 0-0 12, Hector 1-4 0-0 2, C. Gray 1-5 3-4 5, Inmon 0-1 0-0 0, Lasley 5-14 0-0 10, Sorensen 0-2 0-0 0, Witte 12-16 2-2 37, Boswell 0-2 0-1 0, Clemons 4-5 1-2 9. Totals 29-66 6-9 75.

DODGE CITY (79) Q Snell 2-4 3-5 7, Erdogan 5-11 0-0 12, Gonzales 0-0 0-0 0, McKenzie 4-6 0-0 8, Jennings 6-17 8-8 22, Troutt 7-13 2-2 20, Freeman 3-6 4-10 10, Beckerman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 17-25 79.

Halftime Q Butler 40, Dodge City 40. Three-point baskets Q Butler 11-26 (L. Gray 0-3, C. Gray 0-3, Lasley 0-3, Sorensen 0-2, Witte 11-15), Dodge City 8-18 (Erdogan 2-5, McKenzie 0-1, Jennings 2-4, Troutt 4-7, Beckerman 0-1). Rebounds Q Butler 36 (three with 7), Dodge City 38 (Freeman 9). Assists Q Butler 14 (L. Gray 10), Dodge City 15 (Erdogan 4). Fouled out Q Clemons. Total fouls Q Butler 21, Dodge City 12. Records Q Butler 6-15 (1-4), Dodge City 15-4 (3-2).