Dodge City, KS. – The Neosho County women's basketball team's season came to an end Saturday in the quarterfinals of the KJCCC Region VI tournament. Neosho fell 53-88 to #1 seed Butler.

"We lost to a very good team; Butler is an explosive team that can really score," Coach JJ Davis said.  "Butler disrupted us defensively and we had no rhythm at all on the offensive side after the first quarter."

The first quarter Butler took an early 7-1 lead before the Panthers connected on back to back three-pointers by Morgan Bolen, that tied the Grizzlies 7-7 with seven minutes left to play in the first. A made layup by Bolen and three-point shot by Jones put the Panthers up 12-11 with 4 minutes remaining in the period. Butler and Neosho went back and forth with 2 lead changes and 3 ties, but the Panthers grew cold ending the first quarter down, 16-22.

Poor shooting hampered Neosho for the rest of the game. The Panthers shot just 11.6% from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 15.7% from the field and 15.9% from behind the arc. The Panthers also struggled from the free-throw line, connecting on 66.7% of the free shots.  

"I am proud of this team and how hard they have worked all year," JJ Davis said. "We made it to the Quarterfinals which has not been done since 1996." "I am excited to move forward and excited for the future of Neosho."

Jessica Jones led with a team-high 14 points. Chrissy Brown had 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Morgan Bolen also had 11 points and 4 rebounds. Ashley Dillinger chipped in 7 points and pulled down season-best 12 rebounds.

The Panthers finish their season with a 13-17 overall record and 6-14 in the KJCCC.