February 12, 2009

Lady Tigers hand Labette first conference defeat, 78-60

Continuing its late season surge, the Cowley College women’s basketball team dealt Labette Community College its first conference defeat with a sound 78-60 thumping of the Lady Cardinals Wednesday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

The victory was the Lady Tigers’ sixth in a row as Cowley improves to 18-7 overall and 9-4 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The win helped take some of the sting away from the earlier loss at Labette in which the Lady Tigers led by five points before being outscored 12-0 over the final two minutes of play.

“We really felt like we had given one away over there, so we were glad we were able to come out and play well,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

Trailing 18-14 with less than 12 minutes remaining in the opening half, Cowley put the clamps on defensively as they outscored Labette 24-4 over the next nine and half minutes. Elena Yankova’s three-pointer put the Lady Tigers’ ahead 38-22 with 2:35 left in the half.

Leading 40-27 at halftime, Cowley would increase its lead to 53-40 on a basket by Courtney Goodrum with 12:01 left to play. However, Labette would answer with a 7-0 run to cut the Lady Tigers’ lead to 53-47 with 10 minutes remaining.

Instead of panicking, Cowley responded with an 11-2 run to lead 64-49. Brianna Gonzalez’s three pointer with 5:43 left to play capped the run. The Lady Tigers’ lead would grow to as many as 22 points in the win.

Cowley forced Labette into 30 turnovers as the loss dropped the Lady Cardinals into a first place tie with Coffeyville with a record of 12-1 in the Jayhawk East. Ayriell Robinson led Labette with 19 points in the defeat.

Bebe Holloway had another big game for the Lady Tigers as she finished with 23 points and five rebounds. Gabbie Curtis chipped in 16 points and five steals, while Yankova finished with 11 points, 11 assists and six steals.

Goodrum had her finest game of the season as she came off the bench to score 10 points and grab a team-high seven rebounds.

“She gave us some huge rebounds,” Clark said. ‘This for her was redemption because she missed a few rebounds for us at Labette. I thought she really stepped up and I am happy for her.”

After attempting just two free throws in the loss at Labette, Cowley made 20-of-22 shots from the free-throw line on Wednesday. Holloway led the way by going 9-for-10 from the stripe.

The Lady Tigers will be back in action Saturday when they host Kansas City at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Blue Devils are 11-14 overall and 4-9 in the conference.

Box score:
Labette (60): Kayla Rice 5-9 0-0 13, Ayriell Robinson 6-13 5-6 19, Tercya Ferreira 2-5 1-2 7, Shetiarra Pledger 2-7 1-2 5, Monique Johnson 4-6 1-2 9, Samantha Ludwig 0-5 2-2 2, Jordan Langford 0-1 0-0 0, Linda Henderson 0-1 0-0 0. Lauren Andrews 2-5 1-2 5, Audra Teske 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-52 11-16 60.

Cowley (78): Elena Yankova 5-16 0-0 11, Bebe Holloway 7-17 9-10 23, JaNeil Robinson 1-4 0-0 2, Gabbie Curtis 6-15 3-3 16, Whitney Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Courtney Goodrum 2-3 6-6 10, Kaneesha Lee 3-4 0-1 6, Brianna Gonzalez 2-4 2-2 8, Darby Lupardes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-64 20-22 78.

Three-pointers: Labette 7-15 (Rice 3-3, Robinson 2-3, Ferreira 2-3, Pledger 0-4, Langford 0-1, Henderson 0-1), Cowley 4-10 (Yankova 1-3, Curtis 1-4, Gonzalez 2-3). Rebounds: Labette 31 (Pledger 8), Cowley 31 (Goodrum 7). Assists: Labette 16 (Rice 6), Cowley 20 (Yankova 11). Turnovers: Labette 30, Cowley 18. Total fouls: Labette 23, Cowley 14. Fouled out: Robinson. Technicals: none.