January 22, 2009

Lady Tigers suffer another close defeat

For the second game in a row, the Cowley College women’s basketball team had the lead in the final minute before losing. This time, it was Crista Bechard’s three-pointer with 39 seconds left that lifted Johnson County to a 45-43 win over the Lady Tigers Wednesday in Overland Park.

Cowley led 25-24 at the end of the first half and stretched its lead to 43-39 after a basket by Gabbie Curtis with 5:08 left to play. However, the Lady Tigers would go scoreless the rest of the way.

The difference in the game amounted to Johnson County’s ability to hit shots from beyond the three-point line. Although they made just 5-of-25 two-point attempts, the Lady Cavaliers went 11-of-25 from three-point range. Cowley missed its only three-point attempt of the game.

Elena Yankova led Cowley with 12 points in the defeat. Curtis was the only other Lady Tiger to score in double figures as she finished with 10 points. Cowley is now 12-7 overall and tied for sixth in the Jayhawk East with a conference record of 3-4.

Johnson County’s Sasha Barnes made 5-of-6 three-point attempts and finished with a game-high 19 points. Danielle Shows scored just two points but grabbed 17 rebounds for the Lady Cavaliers, which improve to 11-7 overall and 5-2 in the conference.

Cowley will be back in action Saturday when they play at Neosho County at 6 p.m. The game can be heard on KSOK 95.9 FM.

Box score:
Cowley (43): Elena Yankova 5-12 2-2 12, Bebe Holloway 3-9 0-0 6, JaNeil Robinson 2-6 0-0 4, Gabbie Curtis 5-12 0-1 10, Whitney Williams 1-3 3-4 5, Courtney Goodrum 3-5 0-0 6, Kaneesha Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-47 5-7 43.

Johnson County (45): Crista Bechard 2-8 0-0 6, Sasha Barnes 7-10 0-1 19, Melissa Nelson 2-11 0-0 6, Danielle Shows 1-4 0-0 2, Nikki Naab 1-6 0-0 2, Amanda Dittmer 0-3 0-0 0, Ivy Morrison 0-1 0-0 0, Sade Willis 2-2 2-2 8, Katie Nietzke 1-5 0-0 2. Totals: 16-50 2-3 45.

Three-pointers: Cowley 0-1 (Robinson 0-1), Johnson County 11-25 (Bechard 2-8, Barnes 5-6, Nelson 2-6, Dittmer 0-3, Willis 2-2). Rebounds: Cowley 30 (Holloway 9), Johnson County 35 (Shows 17). Assists: Cowley 6 (Robinson 3), Johnson County 12 (Shows 4). Turnovers: Cowley 14, Johnson County 17. Total fouls: Cowley 9, Johnson County 8. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.