January 18, 2010

Lady Tigers pull out overtime win, set up showdown with Labette

 Freshman point guard Ariana Silva scored a career-high 21 points as the Cowley College women's basketball team pulled out a hard fought 64-57 overtime win at Johnson County on Saturday.

Maylisa Johnson added 15 points, six rebounds and six steals to help make up for a poor shooting night from the Lady Tigers inside players as Gianna Woods and Kaneesha Lee combined to make just 4-of-20 shots from the floor.

Cowley led 23-21 at the end of the first half and the score was tied 50-50 at the end of regulation. The Lady Tigers  went on to outscore Johnson County 14-7 in the overtime period as they improved to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Liz Smith led Johnson County with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson County is now 14-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

Cowley took advantage of its free throw opportunities, connecting on 18-of-22 attempts, with Johnson going 7-of-7 from the line. Silva did her damage from long range as she went 5-of-13 from beyond the three-point line.

Cowley, winners of nine of its last 10 games, will host conference leading Labette Monday at 5 p.m. The Lady Cardinals (14-2 overall, 4-0 Jayhawk East), ranked No. 25 in the latest poll, are the only team without a loss in conference play.