March 6, 2009

Lady Tigers have season come to an end with 65-51 loss to Hutchinson

Shooting just 27.9 percent, the Cowley College women's basketball team had its season come to end with a 65-51 loss to Hutchinson Friday at the Region VI Tournament played at Wichita State University's Charles Koch Arena.

The Lady Tigers, the second-seed out of the Jayhawk East, entered the game winners of 12 in a row. Things looked promising early as Cowley scored the first two baskets and led 14-11 midway through the first half. However, Hutchinson would outscore Cowley 14-2 over the next six minutes of play. Heather Robben's three-pointer with 4:33 left in the first half capped the run and put the Lady Blue Dragons ahead 25-16.

Cowley would go into the half trailing 28-22.

The Lady Tigers cut Hutchinson's lead to 31-30 after a basket by JaNeil Robinson with 14:08 remaining, but just 16 seconds later, Robben answered with a three-pointer to push the lead back to four (34-30).

Another three-pointer by Robben with 4:26 left to play stretched Hutchinson's lead to 48-40. Then, Cowley forced back-to-back turnovers on the Lady Blue Dragons, resulting in a basket by Gabbie Curtis and a pair of free throws by Bebe Holloway, which pulled the Lady Tigers within four (48-44) with 3:36 remaining.

Again, Robben came through with a clutch three-pointer to push Hutchinson's lead back to seven (51-44) with 3:13 left. Cowley would miss a pair of three-point attempts and turn the ball over twice on its next four possessions as they were forced to foul to stop the clock.

Robben, who scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line over the game's final 2:20 of play as Hutchinson held on for the win.

Cowley finishes the season with a record of 24-8. For Lady Tiger head coach Todd Clark it was a disappointing end to what was a strong finish to the season.

"We got out-played, out-hustled and out-coached," Clark said. "That was probably as bad as we have played all year."

Cowley's four top scorers, sophomores Gabbie Curtis, Bebe Holloway, Elena Yankova, and Whitney Williams, combined to make just 13-of-52 shot attempts. Holloway led Cowley with 15 points and nine rebounds, but was just 4-of-13 from the floor. Curtis added 14 points and five rebounds, but made just 5-of-20 shots.

Besides Robben making shots from the outside, Hutchinson did most of its damage inside as it had two players record double-doubles. Ariella McGhee finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Naudia Campbell ended the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Hutchinson improves to 28-4 on the season. The Lady Dragons advance to play the winner of the Barton County vs. Independence contest.

Despite the defeat, coach Clark was proud of his team for fighting back from a tough opening start to the conference season. After falling to 3-4 in the Jayhawk East, Cowley came back to win its final 11 conference games.

"They did good, they really fought and battled hard," Clark said.

The Lady Tigers will say goodbye to six sophomores. Along with Curtis, Holloway, Williams and Yankova, JaNeil Robinson and Courtney Goodrum were also playing their final games in a Cowley uniform.
"They are really good kids and they worked really hard, we will miss them," Clark said.

The sophomores won 45 games in their two years at the school and went 28-8 in the Jayhawk East.

Box score:
Cowley (51): Elena Yankova 4-12 0-0 9, Bebe Holloway 4-13 7-9 15, Gabbie Curtis 5-20 2-2 14, Whitney Williams 0-7 3-4 3, JaNeil Robinson 3-4 0-0 6, Courtney Goodrum 1-5 2-2 4, Kaneesha Lee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-61 14-17 51.

Hutchinson (65): Brittany Hines 2-3 0-2 6, Lauren Sparks 0-2 0-0 0, Hetaher Robben 4-10 8-8 20, Ariella McGhee 6-11 4-4 16, Naudia Campbell 6-8 2-5 14, Sasha King 2-6 0-3 6, Briyana Evans 1-2 0-0 2, Brittney Chamberlin 0-2 1-2 1, Brittney Bell 0-1 0-0 0, Calli Mathews 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-45 15-24 65.

Three-pointers: Cowley 3-14 (Yankova 1-4, Goodrum 0-1, Holloway 0-1, Curtis 2-8), Hutchinson 8-17 (Robben 4-8, Hines 2-2, Sparks 0-1, King 2-4, Chamberlin 0-2). Rebounds: Cowley 34 (Holloway 9), Hutchinson 42 (McGhee 12). Assists: Cowley 6 (Holoway, Curtis 3), Hutchinson 16 (King 5). Turnovers: Cowley 14, Hutchinson 21. Total fouls: Cowley 19, Hutchinson 17. Fouled out: Holloway. Technicals: none.