February 4, 2008

Yankova lifts Cowley to wild win

In a game where both teams struggled to score, Cowley College’s Elena Yankova forced a turnover by Kansas City Community College’s Ashleigh Gallio with 17.5 seconds remaining and then scored the game-winning basket with 11 seconds left as the Lady Tigers pulled out a 38-37 win at Kansas City on Saturday.

Trailing 37-36 and needing a turnover or foul to extend the game, Yankova appeared to foul Gallio. However, no foul was called and Gallio tossed the ball out of bounds, thus giving the ball to Cowley.

Yankova received the in bounds pass and drove down court before scoring in the lane, giving Cowley its only lead of the second half. Kansas City’s Brittany Graham’s shot with four seconds left was partially blocked by Cowley’s Lauren Cherry and the Lady Tigers escaped with the one-point win.

“We really struggled to score, but the thing I was impressed with was we didn’t fold,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. “It was good to escape with the win.”

Freshman “Bebe” Holloway, who missed the previous game with an injury, had a stellar performance in the win as she went 5-for-5 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Holloway finished with a game-high 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“She stepped up and played really well for us,” Clark said.

Yankova added 10 points, while Gabby Curtis added eight points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Cowley out-shot Kansas City 36.2 percent to 29.8 percent from the floor.

VaShunta Johnston led Kansas City with nine points and seven rebounds, while Graham finished with eight points and five boards. The loss drops Kansas City’s record to 12-10 overall and 4-6 in the Jayhawk East.

The win improves Cowley’s record to 13-9 overall and 8-2 in the Jayhawk East. The Lady Tigers are tied with Independence for third place in the conference, one game behind conference co-leaders Labette and Coffeyville.

Cowley will be back in action Wednesday when they host Allen County at 5 p.m. The Lady Red Devils are 10-12 overall and 3-7 in the conference. Brittany Johnson leads Allen County in points (15.8) and rebounds (9.3).

“It will be a tough game, they are well coached,” Clark said. “We need to protect our home court.”

Box score:
Cowley (38): Elena Yankova 5-16 0-0 10, Bebe Holloway 5-5 4-4 14, Lauren Cherry 0-1 0-0 0, Whitney Williams 2-8 0-0 4, Gabby Curtis 4-10 0-0 8, JaNeil Robinson 0-0 0-0 0. Alexis Wright 1-6 0-0 2, Neasha Haynes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-47 4-4 38.

Kansas City (37): VaShunta Johnston 4-10 1-1 9, Alexa McGrory 1-8 2-2 4, Ashleigh Gallio 2-8 0-0 5, Brittany Graham 2-7 2-2 8, Anne Borgertpoepping 3-8 0-0 6, Hilary Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Kelley Stauch 0-0 0-0 0, Chelsea Crockett 1-1 0-0 2, Taryn Lane 0-0 0-0 0,Tara Mitchell 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 14-47 5-5 37.

Three-pointers: Cowley 0-7 (Curtis 0-4, Wright 0-2, Haynes 0-1), KC 4-22 (Johnston 0-2, McGrory 0-1, Gallio 1-5, Graham 2-7, Borgertpoepping 0-3, Johnson 0-1, Mitchell 1-3). Rebounds: Cowley