January 22, 2008

Lady Tigers suffer first conference defeat

Dana Olsen, the Jayhawk Conference’s leading scorer at 25.2 points per game, scored 35 points in Labette Community College’s 73-64 win over Cowley College Monday night in Parsons.

The victory kept the 22nd-ranked Lady Cardinals unbeaten at 6-0 in the Jayhawk East, while Cowley dropped to 10-8 overall and 5-1 in the conference.

Cowley trailed 35-25 at the end of the first half and were down 12 (59-47) with six and a half minutes remaining. The Lady Tigers used a 10-1 run, which was capped by a three-point play by Neasha Haynes, to cut Labette’s lead to 60-57 with 4:11 left to play.

However, Olsen and Brittany Brown combined to score 10 of the Lady Cardinals final 13 points as Labette held off Cowley by making six free-throws in the game’s final 1:14.

Olsen made 13-of-18 shots from the floor and 9-of-10 shots from the line. Labette shot 54.9 percent from the floor as a team, while the Lady Tigers shot just 41.9 percent.

“We gave a good effort, I just did not think we played with the toughness we needed to win,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

“Bebe” Holloway scored 10 points in the game’s final six minutes of play as she led Cowley with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Whitney Williams finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while Elena Yankova chipped in 12 points and nine assists.

Cowley will attempt to start a new winning streak in the conference when they play at Independence Community College Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Lady Pirates are 10-7 overall and 3-2 in the Jayhawk East.

The game can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM Arkansas City.

Box score:
Cowley (64): Elena Yankova 6-20 0-0 12, Bebe Holloway 5-9 8-13 18, JaNeil Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Alexis Wright 0-2 0-0 0, Gabbie Curtis 5-13 0-2 10, Whitney Williams 7-10 2-2 16, Lauren Cherry 1-2 0-0 2, Neasha Haynes 2-5 1-1 6. Totals: 26-62 11-18 64.

Labette (73): Tercya Ferreira 1-4 1-2 3, Dana Olsen 13-18 9-10 35, Staci Grindstaff 0-1 0-0 0, Mandy Howerton 1-3 0-5 2, Brittany Davis 2-4 1-2 5, Brittany Brown 6-14 2-6 15, Divia Nelson 2-4 0-0 5, Laurel Lukenbach 1-1 0-0 2, Saysan Jones 2-2 2-2 6. Totals: 28-51 15-27 73.

Three-pointers: Cowley 1-9 (Yankova 0-2, Curtis 0-5, Haynes 1-2), Labette 2-11 (Ferreira 0-3, Grindstaff 0-1, Howerton 0-1, Davis 0-1, Brown 1-3, Nelson 1-1, Olsen 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 29 (Holloway 14), Labette 29 (Olsen, Howerton 6). Assists: Cowley 15 (Yankova 9), Labette 20 (Brown 9). Turnovers: Cowley 16, Labette 15. Total fouls: Cowley 19, Labette 15. Fouled out: Holloway. Technicals: none.