November 10, 2008

Lady Tigers bounce back with 78-52 win

Shooting 67.7 percent in the second half of its game against Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa Saturday at W.S. Scott Auditorium, the No. 30-ranked Cowley College women’s basketball team pulled away for a 78-52 win.

“We got a lot of easy transition baskets in the second half,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. “Our defense was a lot better in the second half and created some turnovers.”

The Lady Tigers overcame a slow start as the Lady Mavericks led 17-13 midway through the first half. Cowley rallied to end the first half on an 8-0 run to lead 31-22 at halftime.

Picking up where it left off, Cowley scored the first 10 points of the second half. Bebe Holloway’s basket two minutes into the second half capped an 18-0 run and put the Lady Tigers on top 41-22.

Cowley went on to lead by as many as 29 points in improving to 2-1 on the season. The loss drops NOC to 0-5.

Sophomore forward Elena Yankova bounced back from a tough shooting night in the team’s loss to 10th-ranked Connors State last Wednesday, as she made 10-of-19 shots from the floor and finished with a game-high 22 points.

Holloway had another big game as she finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. In three games, Holloway is averaging 17.3 points, nine rebounds, and 6.3 steals.

“She’s getting rewarded for being aggressive defensively,” Clark said.

Dominique English also came back from a rough game against Connors State to finish with 13 points and 11 assists in the win over the Mavericks.

“She was making better decisions with the basketball,” Clark said.

Darby Lupardes came off the bench to add seven points and four rebounds for the Lady Tigers.

Bethany McBride led NOC with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Whitnee Kunschik added 12 points. The Lady Mavericks made 10-of-23 three-point attempts, but connected on just 7-of-30 two-point shots. Cowley also forced NOC into 28 turnovers.

The Lady Tigers will now prepare to take part in the Crowder Classic Friday and Saturday in Neosho, Mo. On Friday, Cowley will face Crowder College at 7 p.m. The Lady Tigers will then play Lincoln Trail Saturday at 1 p.m.

The games can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM.

Box score:
NOC (52): Latisha Rogers 1-4 0-0 3, Victoria Russell 1-8 0-0 2, Liberty Payne 3-9 0-0 9, Whitnee Kunschik 4-9 1-1 12, Korie Hargus 0-3 0-0 0, Jordan Upshaw 0-2 0-0 0, Samantha Hill 1-4 3-4 5, Bethany McBride 6-8 4-6 19, Erin Roush 0-3 0-0 0, Savanna Combs 0-0 0-0 0, Kelsea Ray 1-3 0-1 2. Totals: 17-53 8-12 52.

Cowley (78): Elena Yankova 10-19 2-2 22, Dominique English 5-11 3-5 13, Bebe Holloway 7-14 1-2 15, Gabbie Curtis 3-4 1-1 7, Whitney Williams 3-5 0-0 6, Courtney Goodrum 2-2 0-1 4, Kaneesha Lee 0-2 0-2 0, JaNeil Robinson 2-2 0-0 4, Annalisa Jauregui 0-0 0-0 0, Darby Lupardes 3-8 0-0 7. Totals: 35-67 7-13 78.
Three-pointers: NOC 10-23 (Rogers 1-2, Payne 3-9, Kunschik 3-5, Hargus 0-1, Upshaw 0-2, McBride 3-3, Roush 0-1), Cowley 1-1 (Lupardes 1-1). Rebounds: NOC 27 (McBride 8), Cowley 40 (Holloway 10). Assists: NOC 15 (Rogers, Kunschik 3), Cowley 20 (English 11). Turnovers: NOC 28, Cowley 19. Total fouls: NOC 16, Cowley 13. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.