January 12, 2009

Lady Tigers go cold in 57-47 loss to Independence

Shooting just 26 percent, the Cowley College women’s basketball team suffered its first conference defeat with a 57-47 set back against Independence Saturday at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

“We got a lot of open looks, we just didn’t finish,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

Cowley opened the game with a 13-6 lead, but then was held to 10 points the remaining 12:15 of the first half as Independence rallied to take a 31-23 halftime lead.

“I thought we were a little flat in the first half,” Clark said.

The Lady Pirates would get a basket from Tori Halverson and a three-pointer from Kiara Marshall to lead 36-23 a little more than a minute into the second half.

Trailing 44-34 with less than 12 minutes remaining, Cowley sophomore Bebe Holloway scored nine straight points to cut the Lady Pirates’ lead to one-point at 44-43 with 4:40 left to play.

Marshall’s three-pointer with 2:50 remaining put Independence ahead by four (47-43) and ended a nearly nine minute drought by the Lady Pirates. Marshall would hit another three-pointer and add a pair of free throws as Independence pulled away late to win by 10.

“I thought we fought hard, we just could never get over the hump,” Clark said.

The victory moved Independence into a first place tie with Coffeyville and Labette at 3-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Cowley drops to 11-4 overall and 2-1 in the Jayhawk East.

Coming off a career-high 38 points against Fort Scott on Wednesday, Elena Yankova made just 4-of-19 shots and finished with 11 points. Holloway led all scorers as she finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Only four Lady Tigers scored in the defeat.

Sadie Webb went 7-of-9 from the floor and led Independence with 17 points. Rhea Codio came off the bench to score 13 points for the Lady Pirates.

Cowley will play at Labette Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

“We are going to have our hands full but I look forward to the challenge,” Clark said. “We hope to shoot the ball better.”

Box score:
Independence (57): Jordan Hines 0-0 0-0 0, Tori Halverson 2-4 3-3 7, Sadie Webb 7-9 1-1 17, Kiara Marshall 3-10 2-3 11, Brittany Johnson 2-4 4-4 9, Sarah Plowman 0-0 0-0 0, Rhea Codio 4-14 2-3 13, Tiffany Dorris 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 18-43 12-14 57.

Cowley (47): Elena Yankova 4-19 3-4 11, Bebe Holloway 6-13 7-8 20, JaNeil Robinson 0-3 0-0 0, Gabbie Curtis 4-12 0-0 8, Whitney Williams 3-9 2-3 8, Courtney Goodrum 0-5 0-0 0, Darby Lupardes 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 17-65 12-15 47.

Three-pointers: Independence 9-20 (Halverson 0-1, Webb 2-3, Marshall 3-9, Johnson 1-1, Codio 3-6), Cowley 1-10 (Yankova 0-2, Holloway 1-1, Curtis 0-2, Lupardes 0-4, Goodrum 0-1). Rebounds: Independence 31 (Johnson 8), Cowley 29 (Holloway, Williams 9). Assists: Independence 9 (Marshall 6), Cowley 10 (Yankova, Holloway, Williams, Goodrum 2). Turnovers: Independence 12, Cowley 5. Total fouls: Independence 15, Cowley 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.