December 5, 2008

Turnovers hurt Lady Tigers in loss to Cloud County

Cowley College head coach Todd Clark knew his Lady Tiger basketball team would need to take care of the basketball if it were to have a chance to defeat Cloud County Friday at the Jayhawk Shootout in Coffeyville. Unfortunately, Cowley turned the ball over 29 times in a 63-50 loss to the Lady Thunderbirds.

After racing out to an early 7-0 lead, Cowley found themselves down 21-11 after a three-pointer by Cloud County’s Monique Pitts with six minutes remaining in the first half.

Despite 17 first half turnovers, the Lady Tigers’ trailed only 24-21 thanks to a steal and lay up by Dominique English just before the halftime buzzer.

Elena Yankova scored the opening basket of the second half to cut the Lady Thunderbirds’ lead to one (24-23), but Cowley went cold from the floor as Cloud County increased its lead to 42-25 after a pair of free throws by Sharniece Saunders with 8:45 left to play. Saunders’ free throws capped an 18-2 run by the Lady Thunderbirds.

Cowley trailed by as many as 21 points (54-33) in the 13-point defeat. Elena Yankova led the Lady Tigers with 20 points. English added 13 points, but also had 10 turnovers. Bebe Holloway finished with nine points, six steals, and five rebounds.

After winning seven games in a row, Cowley has now dropped back-to-back games to Jayhawk West schools Seward County and Cloud County. Seward (7-1) and Cloud (10-1) have a combined record of 17-2.

The Lady Thunderbirds were led in scoring by Carolyn Blair-Mobley’s 14 points, while Kara Champlin finished with 13 points.

Cloud County finished with 28 turnovers, but out-shot Cowley 45 percent to 36 percent from the floor. The Lady Thunderbirds also went 20-of-25 from the free-throw line.

The Lady Tigers will wrap up play at the Jayhawk Shootout in Coffeyville Sunday when they face Butler Community College at 5 p.m. The game can be heard on KACY 102.5 FM Arkansas City.

Box score:
Cowley (50): Elena Yankova 9-21 0-0 20, Gabbie Curtis 2-4 2-2 6, Whitney Williaams 0-2 0-0 0, JaNeil Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Dominique English 3-9 7-9 13, Courtney Goodrum 0-2 1-2 1, KaNeesha Lee 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 18-50 12-17 50.

Cloud (63): Deandra Schirmer 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Ostermann 1-8 2-2 4, Jermaine Kermis 2-4 3-4 7, Kara Champlin 6-8 1-1 13, Carolyn Blair-Mobley 3-6 7-10 14, Monique Pitts 1-2 0-0 2, Christy Nelson 4-7 0-0 12, Sharniece Saunders 2-6 7-8 11, Emily Dwerllkotte 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-42 20-25 63.

Three-pointers: Cowley 2-7 9Yankova 2-5, Goodrum 0-1, Holloway 0-1), Cloud 5-17 (Ostermann 0-6, Dwerllkotte 0-1, Blair-Mobley 1-3, Nelson 4-7). Rebounds: Cowley 27 (Holloway 5), Cloud 33 (Schirmer 7). Assists: Cowley 6 (English 2), Cloud 15 (Schirmer 6). Turnovers: Cowley 29, Cloud 28. Total fouls: Cowley 21, Cloud 15. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Holloway.