Lady Tigers force 44 turnovers in 105-71 road win at Pratt

Getting a near triple-double from sophomore Elysa Martinez and forcing a season-high 44 turnovers, the Cowley College women's basketball team opened conference play with a 105-71 win at Pratt Community College on Wednesday.

The Lady Tigers improve to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Pratt falls to 4-2 and 0-1 in conference play.

Cowley raced out to a 31-14 lead after one-quarter of play and took a commanding 52-31 lead into the halftime intermission. The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to 79-48 at the end of the third quarter, and Cowley would go on to the 34-point road victory.

"Our effort defensively was really good," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "There were a lot of positives in the win."

Martinez finished with 26 points, 10 steals, and eight assists. Martinez currently leads the NJCAA in steals with 40 in six games, and Cowley is first in turnovers forced per game with an average of 37.8.

"Turning teams over will continue to be key for us in conference play," Clark said.

Sophomore Jamie Molina came off the bench to go 5-of-11 from three-point range and finish with 19 points, while Jaiden Smith (14 points), Georgia Knight (12 points), and Destiny Yates (10 points) also scored in double figures.

Pratt's La'Kyra Johnson led the Beavers with 13 points but also committed eight turnovers.

The Lady Tigers will now prepare to host Seward County (4-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Saints suffered a 57-53 setback at Cloud County in the team's conference opener on Wednesday.

"Seward is really good, so we want to continue being aggressive and get after them," Clark said.