February 5, 2009

Lady Tigers pull out double overtime win at Fort Scott

Having been on the short end of a couple of close road games, the Cowley College women’s basketball team felt relieved to get out of Fort Scott with a close win on Wednesday. It took two overtimes but the Lady Tigers escaped with an 85-81 win.

“This was big for us because we had already lost some close games,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. “We were thrilled to get out of there with a win.”

The victory was Cowley’s fourth in a row and improves the Lady Tigers’ record to 16-7 overall and 7-4 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

This win was not easy as Cowley had to rally from a six-point second half deficit to force overtime. Gabbie Curtis’ jumper from just inside the free-throw line with two seconds left sent the game into overtime tied at 66-66.

In overtime, Cowley trailed 72-70 before Elena Yankova’s jumper with four seconds left sent the game into a second overtime.

Leading 82-81 with 35 seconds left in the second overtime, Cowley ran the shot clock all the way down before Courtney Goodrum kicked a pass out to freshman Brianna Gonzalez, who knocked down a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to put the Lady Tigers on top 85-81 with five seconds left. Fort Scott missed a three-pointer at the buzzer and Cowley left town with the exciting win.

Curtis led Cowley with 20 points, while Yankova added 18. Bebe Holloway also played well as she finished with 16 points. The Lady Tigers got solid play from its post players as Whitney Williams and Kaneesha Lee added 10 points apiece.

Fort Scott’s Valencia Kelly finished with a game-high 35 points in the defeat. Leondra Doomes-Stephens, the conference’s leading scorer at 22 points a game, was held to just 15 points.

The loss drops Fort Scott behind Cowley in the conference as they are now 13-10 overall and 6-5 in the Jayhawk East.

The Lady Tigers will face another stiff road contest Saturday when they play at Independence at 6 p.m. The Lady Pirates (16-7 overall, 7-4 Jayhawk East) are tied with Cowley for third place in the conference.

“It’s a tough environment, but we are trying not to much too much out of it,” Clark said. “We hope to sneak out with a victory.”