Lady Tigers’ comeback attempt comes up just short

Trailing by as many as 26 points (63-37) in the second half at Northern Oklahoma College Tuesday in Tonkawa, Okla., the Cowley College women’s basketball team used a furious rally to close within two points of the Lady Mavericks before losing 75-71.

Cowley trailed 42-31 at the end of the first half and were behind by 20 (55-35) just five minutes into the second half. A three-pointer by the Lady Mavericks’ Amy Pryor increased NOC’s lead to 63-37 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

That’s when Cowley decided to go to a smaller lineup and the move spurred an incredible 24-2 run that was capped by a three-point play by freshman Neasha Haynes that cut NOC’s lead to 65-61 with 3:01 left to play.

Cowley would continue to chip away at the Lady Mavericks’ lead as they pulled within two points of the lead at 71-69 after a basket by freshman Elena Yankova with 27.9 seconds remaining.

However, Pryor hit a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left to make it a two possession game and Yankova missed a jumper on the other end. The teams traded free throws over the final six seconds of play as NOC held on for the four-point win.

Cowley head coach Todd Clark could find little solace in the loss.

“I’m really disappointed we didn’t play with any of that energy in the first half,” Clark said. “We kind of grew up during the game but I don’t like learning by losing.”

Haynes came off the bench to score all 12 of her points in the second half, while adding seven rebounds. Elena Yankova and Gabrielle Curtis finished with 11 points apiece, but combined to make just 9-of-28 shots from the floor.

Cowley shot just 35 percent (29-82) from the floor in falling to 1-1 on the season. NOC improves to 2-2 on the season.

The Lady Tigers will play a pair of games Friday and Saturday at the Hutchinson Classic. Cowley will play Cloud County Friday at 1:30 p.m. and will then face Hutchinson Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

“We need to regroup and figure out how tough we are going to play,” Clark said.

Box score:
Cowley (71): Elena Yankova 5-16 1-2 11, Gabrielle Curtis 4-12 2-2 11, Bebe Holloway 3-5 2-4 8, Whitney Williams 2-9 0-0 4, Lauren Cherry 1-2 2-2 4, Neasha Haynes 4-6 2-4 12, Noelle Jackson 2-4 0-0 6, Courtney Goodrum 0-1 1-2 1, Natasa Draganic 1-3 2-2 4, Alexis Wright 2-6 5-8 9, JaNeil Robinson 0-1 1-4 1. Totals: 29-82 18-30 71.

NOC (75): Meghan Winters 18, Bethany McBride 15, Amy Pryor 10, Holly Hardin 10, Carletta Hernandez 6, Calysa Marshall 6, Brianne Grisham 4, RaMeitha Buford 3, Lacey Koscheski 3.

Three-pointers: Cowley 5-17 (Jackson 2-4, Yankova 0-2, Wright 0-2, Curtis 1-5, Haynes 2-4), NOC 10-28. Rebounds: Cowley 35 (Willams, Haynes 7), NOC 40. Assists: Cowley 12 (Holloway 3), NOC 1. Turnovers: Cowley 21, NOC 32. Total fouls: Cowley 21, NOC 23. Technicals: none.