March 3, 2010

Johnson returns to help Lady Tigers defeat Pratt 64-38

The Cowley College women’s basketball team got the spark they were missing Tuesday night in the first-round of the Region VI Tournament with the return of freshman guard Maylisa Johnson (pictured).

Having lost three of its last five games played without Johnson, the Lady Tigers fed off having her in the lineup as they blasted Pratt Community College 64-38 to advance to the second-round of the Region VI Tournament. Cowley will face Garden City Friday at 5 p.m. at Wichita State University’s Charles Koch Arena.

Johnson entered Tuesday’s game with the score tied 15-15 with 7:15 left to play in the opening half. She assisted on each of the Lady Tigers next three baskets as Cowley went into halftime leading 24-19.

She returned in the second half with Cowley clinging to a 27-23 lead. Again Cowley took off with Johnson in the game as they would out-score Pratt 18-3 over the next seven minutes, and led 45-26 with less than 10 minutes remaining.

Cowley would lead by as many as 28 points in the win. With the victory, Cowley (20-10) achieved its fourth straight 20-win season.

Johnson would finish the game with 10 assists and no turnovers. Gianna Woods, who scored 20 of her game-high 25 points in the second half, would be the beneficiary of several of Johnson’s assists.

Woods (25 points, 12 rebounds) and sophomore post player Kaneesha Lee (14 points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots) dominated inside and combined for 39 points, 21 rebounds, and eight blocked shots.
Cowley head coach Todd Clark thought the key was having Johnson return to the lineup.

“May is just an energetic kid that tends to help get others going,” Clark said.

Jasamyne Saunders added nine points and five rebounds for the Lady Tigers, while point guard Ariana Silva chipped in with eight assists and seven boards. Cowley out-rebounded the Lady Beavers 49-25 and held Pratt to just 26.2 percent shooting from the floor.

Phylicia Freeman, the lone player to average more than six points per game for Pratt, finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Take away Freeman’s 10-of-24 shooting effort and the rest of the Lady Beavers made just 6-of-37 shots from the floor.

Pratt finishes the season with a record of 4-27.

Cowley will now turn its attention to Garden City (16-14), which defeated Kansas City 68-54 on Tuesday. The Lady Broncbusters are the third seed out of the Jayhawk West. After going just 4-10 in its non-conference schedule, Garden City regrouped to finish 12-4 in the conference. The Lady Broncbusters are led by 6-foot-4 center Marisela Rodriguez, who is averaging 13.3 points and 9.1 rebounds.

Clark has not had an opportunity to watch Garden City play, but will spend the next couple of days scouting the Lady Tigers’ next opponent.

“We will need to stay healthy and have some things go our way on game day,” Clark said.

Box score:
Pratt (38): Dashia Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Corinna Hoyt 1-7 0-0 3, Phylicia Freeman 10-24 1-2 22, Whitney Slater 2-10 0-0 4, Jazmine Bell 2-8 1-2 6, Laramie Lawrence 0-1 0-0 0, Ricci Lambert 0-5 1-2 1, Abbey Rudd 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 16-61 3-6 38.

Cowley (64): Jasamyne Saunders 4-10 1-2 9, Ariani Silva 2-5 0-0 4, Kaneesha Lee 7-19 0-1 14, Anna Sonka 1-7 1-2 3, Gianna Woods 11-18 3-4 25, Brianna Gonzalez 0-0 2-2 2, Maylisa Johnson 1-1 1-1 3, Lisa Angell 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 28-63 8-12 64.

Three-pointers: Pratt 3-17 (Hoyt 1-7, Freeman 1-2, Slater 0-4, Bell 1-4), Cowley 0-4 (Silva 0-3, Sonka 0-1). Rebounds: Pratt 25 (Freeman 8), Cowley 49 (Woods 12). Assists: Pratt 12 (Hoyt, Bell 4), Cowley 24 (Johnson 10). Turnovers: Pratt 14, Cowley 17. Total fouls: Pratt 12, Cowley 5. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.