February 2, 2009

Lady Tigers win third straight, 58-30 over Highland

Scoring the first 26 points of Saturday’s home game against Highland Community College, the Cowley College women’s basketball team cruised to a 58-30 win.

The victory was the Lady Tigers’ third win in a row, and moved Cowley into a four-way tie for third place in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Cowley held Highland scoreless until Tanna Prenger’s basket with 5:36 remaining in the first half. Sophomore point guard Gabbie Curtis hit four three-pointers and the Lady Tigers held Highland to 19 percent shooting as they built a 37-12 halftime lead.

“You have got to feel good about the way we started the game,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.
Cowley struggled to find points in the second half, but thanks to its solid play in the first half, the game was never in doubt. The victory improves the Lady Tigers’ record to 15-7 overall and 6-4 in the Jayhawk East.

Elena Yankova led all scorers as she finished with 17 points and five assists. Bebe Holloway continued her strong sophomore campaign by adding 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Curtis scored all 12 of her points in the first half and added seven assists, while Whitney Williams chipped in with nine points and 12 rebounds.

“We are just trying to get more and more balanced,” Clark said.

Karli Abbey led the Lady Scotties with 10 points and nine rebounds. Amy Galey added 10 points but made just 4-of-16 shots from the floor. Highland drops to 8-14 overall and 1-9 in the conference.

Cowley will be back in action Wednesday when they play at Fort Scott at 5 p.m. The Lady Greyhounds are one of the four teams tied with Cowley for third place in the conference, as are Independence and Johnson County.

The Lady Tigers defeated Fort Scott 72-45, Feb. 7 in Arkansas City.

“They are always better at their place,” Clark said.

Fort Scott’s Leondra Doomes-Stephens leads the conference in scoring at 22.2 points per game.
The game can be heard on KSOK Radio 95.9 FM.

Box score:
Highland (30): Amy Galey 4-16 2-3 10, Karli Abbey 5-10 0-0 10, Tanna Prenger 3-13 0-0 8, Kierston Howerton 1-6 0-3 2, Alex Gonzalez 0-2 0-0 0, Kara Smith 0-6 0-0 0. Totals: 13-53 2-6 30.

Cowley (58): Elena Yankova 6-16 3-3 17, Bebe Holloway 5-12 2-2 12, JaNeil Robinson 2-5 0-0 4, Gabbie Curtis 4-14 0-0 12, Whitney Williams 3-9 3-5 9, Courtney Goodrum 0-1 0-2 0, Kaneesha Lee 1-2 0-0 2, Brianna Gonzalez 1-4 0-0 2, Darby Lupardes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-64 8-12 58.

Three-pointers: Highland 2-15 (Smith 0-6, Galey 0-3, Abbey 0-1, Prenger 2-5), Cowley 6-13 (Curtis 4-8, Yankova 2-2, Gonzalez 0-2, Lupardes 0-1). Rebounds: Highland 29 (Abbey 9), Cowley 41 (Holloway 14). Assists: Highland 6 (Galey 5), Cowley 19 (Curtis 7). Turnovers: Highland 16, Cowley 11. Total fouls: Highland 12, Cowley 8. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.