February 15, 2010

Lady Tigers lose 63-54 at conference leading Labette

For the second time this season the Cowley College women’s basketball team held a second half lead over conference leading Labette Community College but were unable to hold on for the win. This time, the No. 23-ranked Lady Cardinals came back from a 26-23 halftime deficit to defeat the Lady Tigers 63-54 Saturday in Parsons.

Cowley out-shot Labette 44 percent to 31 percent from the floor, but turned the ball over 11 more times (31-20) than the Lady Cardinals.

The Lady Tigers could have benefited from having Maylisa Johnson in the lineup, but the freshman from Okmulgee, OK missed her second straight game due to injury. Johnson had registered 14 assists and only two turnovers in the two games leading up to the injury.

All eight Lady Tigers that saw action on Saturday had at least two turnovers in the game.

“I think we played relatively hard the majority of the game, they are just too athletic for us without Maylisa,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said, “We struggled against their pressure.”

Things started off well for the Lady Tigers as they scored the game’s first nine points and led 19-7 following a free throw by Gianna Woods with seven minutes left in the opening half.

However, Labette slowly chipped away at Cowley’s lead and went into the half trailing by only three points (26-23). The Cardinals took their first lead of the game early in the second half.

The Lady Tigers stayed close as they trailed only 49-46 following a basket by Woods with just under eight minutes remaining, but Labette put the game away with a 10-2 run, which was capped by a three-pointer from Shetiarra Pledger with 2:50 left to play.

The Lady Cardinals went 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in the second half as they held on for their eighth straight win. Labette is now 23-3 overall and 13-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

Kellindra Zachery led Labette with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Philicia Kelly added 15 points and eight boards.

Ariani Silva led four Lady Tigers in double figures as she finished with 17 points. Brianna Gonzalez, who started in place of Johnson, went 3-of-6 from three-point range and finished with 11 points. While, Gianna Woods and Kaneesha Lee chipped in with 10 points apiece.

The loss was Cowley’s third in a row, dropping the Tigers into third place in the Jayhawk East with a record of 17-9 overall and 10-5 in the conference. Independence and Coffeyville are each a half game behind the Lady Tigers for third in the conference, while Johnson County is one game in front of Cowley for second place in the standings. More importantly, Cowley is tied for second with Coffeyville in the Region VI standings.

Despite the recent skid, Clark is optimistic the team will get things turned around.

“We have just got to get better and we will,” Clark said. “The kids are sticking together and playing hard.”

Cowley will host Fort Scott Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the team’s final regular season home game. Fort Scott is 11-14 overall and 3-10 in the Jayhawk East.

Box score:
Cowley (54): Ariana Silva 4-8 8-8 17, Kaneesha Lee 4-10 2-2 10, Brianna Gonzalez 4-8 0-0 11, Anna Sonka 0-6 0-0 0, Gianna Woods 4-6 2-3 10, Jasamyne Saunders 2-4 0-2 4, Maggie Vieyra 0-0 0-0 0, Crystal Allen 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 19-43 12-15 54.

Labette (63): Shetiarra Pledger 2-11 0-0 5, Kellindra Zachery 8-16 3-3 19, Satoria Bell 2-12 5-5 9, Jasmine Smith 2-12 3-4 7, Philicia Kelly 6-13 0-0 15, Katelyn Sunde 2-9 0-0 6, Linda Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Andrews 0-0 0-0 0, Monique Johnson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 23-74 11-12 63.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-9 (Silva 1-1, Gonzalez 3-6, Sonka 0-2), Labette 6-25 (Pledger 1-8, Bell 0-3, Smith 0-2, Kelly 3-5, Sunde 2-7). Rebounds: Cowley 37 (Woods 8), Labette 38 (Zachery 10). Assists: Cowley 7 (Saunders 3), Labette 12 (Smith 5). Turnovers: Cowley 31, Labette 20. Total fouls: Cowley 15, Labette 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: Smith.