January 15, 2009

Labette rallies past Lady Tigers 57-50

Leading Labette Community College by five points (50-45) with just over two minutes remaining in Wednesday night’s game in Parsons, the Cowley College women’s basketball team watched the Lady Cardinals score the game’s final 12 points as they fell by a score of 57-50.

Cowley turned the ball over 22 times as they suffered its second straight conference defeat. The loss was hard for Cowley head coach Todd Clark to take.

“We turned the ball over too much, this is big time disappointing,” Clark said.

A basket by sophomore Bebe Holloway put Cowley ahead 50-45 with 2:05 left to play. However, Labette got a basket by Ayriell Robinson and a three-pointer by Shetiarra Pledger to tie the game at 50-50 with 1:11 remaining.

Following a charging call on Holloway, a pair of free throws by Tercya Ferreira put Labette ahead 52-50 with 43.5 seconds left. The Lady Tigers would then turn the ball over on its next possession and were forced to foul. The Cardinals would score its final seven points from the free-throw line as they held on for the win.

Cowley out-shot Labette 48 percent to 33 percent from the floor, but was out-scored 14-0 from the free-throw line.

The loss drops Cowley’s record to 11-5 overall and 2-2 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Labette improves to 10-6 overall and remains tied for the conference lead with Coffeyville with a record of 4-0 in the Jayhawk East.

Cowley’s Whitney Williams finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Elena Yankova added 12 points and five boards. Holloway and Gabbie Curtis chipped in with 10 points apiece.

Labette’s Kayla Rice led all scorers with 13 points, and Ferreira finished with 12 points and three steals.
The Lady Tigers will now prepare for Saturday’s game at Kansas City at 2 p.m. The Lady Blue Devils are 9-7 overall and 2-2 in the Jayhawk East. The game can be heard on KSOK 95.9 FM.