February 28, 2008

Cowley women continue stellar play at home, region title hopes still alive

Playing its final home game of the conference slate, the Cowley College women’s basketball team defeated Fort Scott 66-39 Wednesday at W.S. Scott Auditorium. The victory caps a perfect conference home mark of 9-0 for the Lady Tigers.

“Going unbeaten at home in the conference is huge for us,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. “I am real excited to accomplish that feat.”

Cowley never trailed, and led 31-16 at the end of the first half. After Fort Scott cut Cowley’s lead to 39-28 with 13:15 remaining, the Lady Tigers put the game away with a 12-0 run.

“I thought we were a little sluggish, but it was good to get the victory,” Clark said.

With the team’s four sophomores (Alexis Wright, Lauren Cherry, Natasa Draganic, and Caitlin Spencer) being honored before the game, Cowley used the lopsided win to get each of its players some minutes on the floor as 12 players scored in the win.

“It was nice to be able to run some of those players out there that don’t get to play a lot of minutes,” Clark said.

Cowley improves to 18-11 overall and 13-4 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The Lady Tigers can finish no better than second in the conference, but more importantly, still have a possibility of sharing the region title.

If Cowley wins at Neosho County on Saturday and Labette defeats Coffeyville, the Lady Tigers could finish in a tie for first in the region.

As for Wednesday’s game, the Lady Tigers were led by Elena Yankova’s 15 points, while Gabbie Curtis finished with 12 points. Cowley out-shot Fort Scott 41.9 percent to 27.9 percent.

Ashley Jappa led Fort Scott with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The Lady Greyhounds are now 12-14 overall and 5-12 in the conference.

Cowley will play at Neosho County Saturday at 6 p.m. The game can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM in Arkansas City.

Box score:
Fort Scott (39): Leondra Doomes-Stephens 5-19 5-10 15, Miranda Chaney 0-2 0-0 0, Kenya Doss 1-12 0-0 2, Brittany English 2-4 0-0 4, Ashley Jappa 7-15 0-0 14, Janelle Whittenborn 1-1 0-0 2, Fatima Lawrence 0-0 0-0 0, Amber Bowles 1-8 0-2 2. Totals: 17-61 5-12 39.

Cowley (66): Elena Yankova 7-13 0-0 15, Bebe Holloway 3-6 1-1 7, Gabbie Curtis 3-8 6-6 12, Whitney Williams 4-9 0-3 8, Lauren Cherry 1-3 0-0 2, Noelle Jackson 1-7 1-2 3, Courtney Goodrum 0-1 0-0 0, Amy Slane 2-3 0-0 5, Natasa Draganic 1-3 1-2 3, JaNeil Robinson 0-0 1-2 1, Alexis Wright 2-5 2-2 6, Caitlin Spencer 1-3 0-0 2, Neasha Haynes 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 26-62 12-18 66.

Three-pointers: Fort Scott 0-8 (Doomes-Stephens 0-3, Chaney 0-1, Doss 0-4), Cowley 2-8 (Yankova 1-3, Jackson 0-1, Slane 1-1, Draganic 0-1, Wright 0-1, Spencer 0-1). Rebounds: Fort Scott 32 (Jappa 13, Cowley 36 (Holloway 11). Assists: Fort Scott 4 (four players tied with 1), Cowley 14 (Holloway 4). Turnovers: Fort Scott 22, Cowley 14. Total fouls: Fort Scott 13, Cowley 14. Fouled out: Doss. Technicals: none.