March 3, 2008

Cowley women win fifth straight, finish 14-4 in Jayhawk East

The Cowley College women’s basketball team used another solid defensive effort to notch its fifth straight win Saturday night at Neosho County. The Lady Tigers held the Lady Panthers to 26 percent shooting in the 63-42 victory.

Cowley finished just one game behind conference co-champions Coffeyville and Independence, and tied Labette for third place in the Jayhawk East with a conference mark of 14-4. The Lady Tigers earned the fifth-seed in the Region VI Tournament and will host 12th-seeded Garden City (11-19) Wednesday night at 5 p.m.

On Saturday, the Lady Tigers led 31-18 at the end of the first half and led comfortably throughout the second half despite not playing its best basketball.

“Even though we did not play great basketball, we played good enough to get a nice road win,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

Elena Yankova’s 21 points led Cowley, which improved to 19-11 with the win. Whitney Williams added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, while Lauren Cherry and Gabbie Curtis each finished with 10 points.

The Lady Tigers out-shot Neosho County 47 percent to 26 percent from the floor. Cowley also forced the Lady Panthers into 25 turnovers.

Cowley is allowing only 44 points per game during its five-game winning streak.

“We have been a lot more active defensively than we were earlier in the season,” Clark said.

Neosho County failed to have a player score in double figures as Carshena Anderson led the Lady Panthers with nine points. Neosho County finishes the regular season with a record of 4-26 overall and 1-13 in the Jayhawk East.

Cowley will now prepare for Wednesday night’s home game against Garden City. The Lady Broncbusters went 6-10 and finished in a tie for fifth place in the Jayhawk West.

Garden City likes to shoot from beyond the arc as they have attempted 286 more shots from behind the three-point line than the Lady Tigers.

“We need to be able to contain them and get a hand up on their shots,” Clark said. “I feel we have really come together as a team and I hope we keep that going Wednesday night.”

Box score:
Cowley (63): Noelle Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, Elena Yankova 9-18 2-2 21, Courtney Goodrum 1-1 0-0 2, Amy Slane 0-0 0-0 0, Bebe Holloway 0-3 2-2 2, JaNeil Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Alexis Wright 1-2 0-0 2, Gabbie Curtis 4-17 2-2 10, Whitney Williams 7-10 2-4 16, Lauren Cherry 5-6 0-2 10. Totals: 27-57 8-12 63.

Neosho (42): Carshena Anderson 4-7 0-1 9, Andrea Holloway 1-1 0-0 3, Kelcy Shackelford 0-7 6-8 6, Fila Smith 2-10 4-4 8, Quinetta Hadley 0-3 1-2 1, Amber Haus 0-3 1-2 1, Brandi Robertson 2-8 4-4 8, Kori Davis 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 12-46 16-21 42.

Three-pointers: Cowley 1-6 (Yankova 1-3, Curtis 0-2, Cherry 0-1), Neosho 2-14 (Anderson 1-2, Holloway 1-1, Shackelford 0-1, Smith 0-5, Haus 0-5). Rebounds: Cowley 47 (Holloway 9), Neosho 35 (Anderson 7). Assists: Cowley 18 (Curtis 6), Neosho 5 (Shackelford 2). Turnovers: Cowley 19, Neosho 25. Total fouls: Cowley 17, Neosho 15. Fouled out: Smith. Technicals: none.