March 7, 2009

Barnes' monster game leads Seward to 86-64 win over Lady Tigers
 
Getting 41 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists and seven steals from 5-foot-8 sophomore Rachel Barnes, the No. 13-ranked Seward County Lady Saints ended Cowley College's season with a 86-64 victory in the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament played Sunday at Wichita State University's Charles Koch Arena.

Barnes was a one-person wrecking crew as she had 21 points and 10 offensive rebounds in the game's first 20 minutes of play. Seward grabbed 22 offensive rebounds in the first half and converted them into 20 second chance points, helping them to an 18-point halftime lead (41-23).

"We did not handle the physical play very well," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "They were just better than us today."

The win improved Seward's record to 31-2 overall, and advanced them to Monday's championship game vs. Labette at 6 p.m. Cowley ends the season with a record of 21-12.

Cowley was able to lead 9-2 following a three-pointer by Anna Sonka with four minutes gone by in the first half, but Seward answered with nine straight points to lead 11-9. After Cowley went back on top 19-18, the  Lady Saints again responded with a 12-0 run to lead 30-19. The Lady Tigers went scoreless for nearly five  minutes during the run.

Seward's lead would grow to as many as 16 points (39-23) when Barnes capped her monsterous first half by hitting her third three pointer. When Barnes was not hitting from the outside, she was grabbing offensive rebounds and scoring inside.

To add to the Lady Tigers' woes, Vaneza Junior stole the ball from Cowley's Ariana Silva in the back court and went in for a lay-up in the closing seconds of the half to put Seward on  top 41-23 at halftime.
The turnover was Cowley's 17th of the opening half. Seward converted the turnovers into 17 points.

Maylisa Johnson, who had sparked the Lady Tigers with her return to the lineup three games ago, had an off night as she turned the ball over seven times in the first half and 11 times overall. Seward would turn Cowley's 29 turnovers into 31 points.

Sophomore Kaneesha Lee picked up two early fouls and had to sit for the last 14:49 of the half. Cowley led 9-6 when Lee left the game. Lee managed to return to the court for only the first 30 seconds of the second half before heading back to the bench with her third foul. Lee would not return to the game.

Cowley would attempt to make things intersting as three straight steals and six quick points by Jasamyne Saunders helped Cowley to an 8-0 run, which saw Seward's lead cut to 13 (54-41) with 11:16 left. Barnes stopped the run with another basket and Seward's lead would continue to grow the rest of the way.

Cowley would not stop fighting but the Lady Saints proved to be too much. SOphomore post player Nadia Rosario went 6-for-8 from the floor and added 13 points, five rebounds and four steals in the win.
Saunders had a nice second half for the Lady Tigers and finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five steals. Woods led cowley with 22 points and 10 rebounds in her final game for the Lady Tigers.

Other players to see action in their final game at Cowley besides Woods and Lee were Crystal Allen and Brianna Gonzalez. Cowley will return three starters in Ariani Silva, Anna Sonka, and MayLisa Johnson. Saunders also came on strong toward the end of the season and should have a strong sophomore season.

"I look forward to the future of the program," Clark said.

Box Score:
Cowley (64): Ariani Silva 0-1 0-2 0, Kaneesha Lee 0-2 0-0 0, MayLisa Johnson 2-3 3-5 7, Anna Sonka 5-13 0-0 11, Gianna Woods 7-14 8-11 22, Jasamyne Saunders 5-10 5-8 15, Brianna Gonzalez 3-9 0-0 7, Maggie Vieyra 1-2 0-0 2, Crystal Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Lisa Angell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-55 16-26 64.

Seward (86): Vaneza Junior 4-10 2-2 11, Sheila Washington 0-3 0-2 0, Megan Lassley 3-10 1-3 8, Rachel Barnes 13-30 12-14 41, Nadia Rosario 6-8 1-5 13, Morgan Skomal 1-5 0-1 2, Liz Ginther 1-3 2-2 5, Kendra Spresser 2-6 2-2 6, Sumr Robinett 0-1 0-2 0. Totals: 30-76 20-33 86.

Three-pointers: Cowley 2-13 (Sonka 1-5, Gonzalez 1-7, Silva 0-1), Seward 6-21 (Junior 1-5, Skomal 0-1, Ginther 1-2, Lassley 1-5, Spresser 0-4, Barnes 3-4). Rebounds: Cowley 40 (Woods 10), Seward 54 (Barnes 16). Assists: Cowley 9 (Silva, Johnson, Sonka 2), Seward 19 (Barnes 9). Turnovers: Cowley
29, Seward 21. Total fouls: Cowley 24, Seward 18. Fouled out: Saunders. Technicals: none.