December 7, 2009

Lady Tigers hold off Allen County 56-54 for third straight win

Having won by an average of 23 points per game in its previous five victories, the Cowley College women’s basketball team was pushed to the limit by Allen County on Saturday in Arkansas City as they pulled out a hard fought 56-54 win.

Although Cowley only trailed once, at 3-0, the Lady Tigers never led by more than seven points. Cowley’s lead would be cut to one point twice in the second half, the final time coming at 55-54 on Breanna Shaw’s three-point play with 1:14 remaining.

After both teams missed shots in the final minute of play, Cowley had a chance to increase its lead but Ariana Silva’s running jumper in the lane caromed off the rim and went out of bounds to Allen County with 9.4 seconds left.

The Lady Red Devils got the ball past half court and called timeout with 7.4 seconds remaining. Looking to get the ball to Shaw, who led all players with 24 point and 10 rebounds, Cowley’s Gianna Woods deflected the inbounds pass off Shaw as the ball went out of the bounds with 2.9 seconds left.

Cowley then got the ball in to Woods, who was fouled with 1.3 seconds remaining. Woods hit 1-of-2 free throws and Allen County was unable to get off a final shot as the Lady Tigers hung on for the two-point win.

“Gianna was very aggressive and got the deflection, which was huge to get that stop at the end of the game,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. “We had not won a really close game in a tight situation, and being able to win without playing our best basketball is a mark we may have a chance to have some success.”

Cowley, which improves to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division, was led by freshman Maylisa Johnson, who finished with a team-high 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals.

“I thought she did a lot of things for us,” Clark said.

Woods added 12 points and seven rebounds, and freshman Anna Sonka chipped in with 10 points.
The loss drops Allen County’s record to 6-6 overall and 0-2 in the Jayhawk East. Along with Shaw’s big night, Dysyan Malone added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Red Devils.

Cowley will return to action Tuesday when they host Seminole State College at 5 p.m. The Lady Tigers will look to avenge a 94-62 loss at Seminole, OK on Nov. 5.
“We will have our hands full, quite frankly, we did not play very well at their place,” Clark said. “I hope to be competitive.”

Box score:

Allen County (54): Breanna Shaw 8-18 5-5 24, Maurissa Shaffer 0-2 1-2 1, Dysyan Malone 4-11 2-6 12, Kyneshia Nisbett 2-6 0-0 4, Jazmynn Johnson 2-5 0-2 4, Shayla Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Meghan Atchison 0-1 0-0 0, Aeriss McNeese 0-1 1-2 1, Jennifer House 2-5 4-7 8. Totals: 18-50 13-24 54.

Cowley (56): Maggie Vieyra 0-2 0-0 0, Kaneesha Lee 2-7 0-0 4, Maylisa Johnson 3-4 7-10 13, Anna Sonka 4-11 1-2 12, Gianna Woods 4-6 4-8 12, Jasamyne Saunderes 1-3 0-0 2, Ariani Silva 3-10 3-5 9, Crystal Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Brianna Gonzalez 2-6 0-0 6, Lisa Angell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-50 15-25 56.

Three-pointers: Allen County 5-16 (Shaw 3-8, Malone 2-6, Nisbett 0-2), Cowley 3-12 (Sonka 1-6, Silva 0-1, Gonzalez 2-5). Rebounds: 34 (Shaw 10), Cowley 27 (Johnson 8). Assists: Allen County 10 (Malone 5), Cowley 14 (Johnson 5). Turnovers: Allen County 21, Cowley 20. Total fouls: Allen County 22, Cowley 22. Fouled out: Lee. Technicals: Malone.