Lady Tigers even record with 77-34 win

Holding its second straight opponent under 35 points, the Cowley College women’s basketball team defeated the Friends University JV 77-34 Thursday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium. The victory improves Cowley’s record to 3-3 on the season.

Although they were listed as a junior varsity squad, Friends started two juniors and also had a senior see playing time in the game.

"I thought we really locked down and held a really good group to 34 (points)," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "I was very pleased. I thought we guarded well and did everything pretty well."

The Lady Tigers trailed just once at 2-0 and led 39-18 at the end of the first half. Cowley held the Lady Falcons scoreless for nearly seven and a half minutes during an 18-0 second half run that opened its lead to 69-26 with 5:35 remaining.

Freshman Elena Yankova led five Lady Tigers in double figures with 15 points. Gabrielle Curtis finished with 12 points, while JaNeil Robinson added 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Whitney Williams and Neasha Haynes chipped in with 10 points apiece.

Laycie Pelkey and Kelsey Heft led the Lady Falcons with nine points each. Friends JV shot just 32.4 percent from the floor, while committing 18 turnovers.

Cowley, which is 3-0 at home, will host Northern Oklahoma College Saturday at 5 p.m.
“We want to keep winning on our home court,” Gabrielle Curtis said.

The Lady Tigers suffered a 75-71 loss at NOC on Nov. 6. In that game, Cowley trailed by as many as 26 points before nearly coming all the way back for the road win.

"The thing that's concerning about them is their style of play,” Clark said. “They shoot it quick and that's something we're not accustomed to. We don't play that way. We'll hopefully work on it a little bit tomorrow and get locked in."

Box score:
Friends JV (34): Laycie Pelkey 3-7 3-5 9, Kelsey Heft 2-3 5-5 9, Keley Porter 1-4 0-0 3, Cana Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Schwab 2-5 0-1 4, Jessica Griggs 1-3 0-0 2, Ashley Bale 3-10 0-0 7, Tamara Thomas 0-3 0-0 0, Alyssa Garcia 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Cooks 0-1 0-0 0, Michelle Price 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Kelley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-37 8-11 34.

Cowley (77): Noelle Jackson 2-2 0-0 4, Cameron Roland 1-4 0-0 2, Gabrielle Curtis 5-9 2-2 12, Whitney Williams 4-10 2-4 10, Lauren Cherry 2-4 0-0 4, Elena Yankova 7-11 1-2 15, Courtney Goodrum 1-3 2-2 4, Amy Slane 0-1 0-0 0, Sammantha Maley 0-0 0-1 0, Natasa Draganic 2-7 0-0 4, JaNeil Robinson 4-6 3-4 11, Alexis Wright 0-1 1-2 1, Caitlin Spencer 0-0  0-0  0, Neasha Haynes 4-7 0-0 10.  Totals: 32-65 11-16 77.

Three-pointers: Friends 2-10 (Pelkey 0-2, Porter 1-2, Schwab 0-1, Bale 1-3, Thomas 0-2), Cowley 2-7 (Roland 0-2, Williams 0-1, Draganic 0-2, Haynes 2-2). Rebounds: Friends 19 (Heft 4), Cowley 26 (Robinson 8). Assists: Friends 4 (Porter, Schwab 2), Cowley 11 (Haynes 3). Turnovers: Friends 18, Cowley 6. Total fouls: Friends 14, Cowley 11. Technicals: none.