Big third quarter lifts Lady Tigers to 59-52 win at Seward County

Continuing its climb up the conference standings, the Cowley College women's basketball team picked up its third straight win with a 59-52 victory at Seward County on Saturday.

After opening the second semester with a two-point loss at then top-ranked Hutchinson to fall to 4-5 in the Jayhawk Conference, the Lady Tigers have won four of its past five games to improve their record to 13-6 overall and 8-6 in the conference. Cowley is now tied for fifth place in the conference with Seward County (13-7), who is also 8-6.

Things started well for Cowley as they led 19-12 after one-quarter of play. However, the Lady Tigers went cold in the second quarter and were out-scored 13-4 as they went into halftime trailing 25-23.

Seward's lead would grow to 30-25 early in the third quarter before Cowley finished on a 15-2 run to lead 40-32 entering the final quarter of play.

"We guarded really well in the third quarter and slowed them down quite a bit," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to 49-37 midway through the fourth quarter, but Seward would close within 52-46 before back-to-back baskets helped Cowley close out the seven-point road win.

"This was a huge win for us because Seward is not an easy place to play," Clark said.

Both teams shot 40 percent from the floor, but Cowley made four more three-pointers (7-3) than the Saints and out-scored Seward 12-5 at the free-throw line.

Lady Tiger sophomore Hattie Pyle recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Elysa Martinez and Jaiden Smith added 15 and 14 points, respectively.

"Hattie hit a couple of big threes for us late in the game, and I thought all of our starters were good," Clark said.

Ari Gordon was the lone Seward player to score in double figures as she finished with 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Cowley will put its win streak on the line when they play at conference-leading Dodge City on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Conquistadors are 18-2 overall and tied with Hutchinson atop the conference standings with a record of 13-1.

"We look forward to the challenge and hope to put in a game plan to be successful," Clark said.

Box score:

Cowley (59): Jaiden Smith 6-11 0-0 14, Destiny Yates 1-3 3-3 6, Hattie Pyle 4-9 6-7 16, Elysa Martinez 5-15 3-4 15, Alexcia Murphy 4-8 0-2 8, Mallory Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Georgia Knight 0-1 0-0 0, Jamie Molina 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-49 12-16 59.

Seward (52): Kylee Hunt 2-8 1-1 5, Avery Marchino 3-5 0-0 7, Ari Gordon 7-11 2-3 16, Kezia Grant-Bobb 0-3 0-0 0, Allie Myers 1-3 2-2 5, Biyyanah Ellis 2-7 0-0 4, Chloe Burnham 1-4 0-0 2, Maddy Kincaide 0-2 0-0 0, ArMya Kennedy 2-5 0-2 5, Destiny Alexander 4-6 0-0 8, Sanaa Dennis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-55 5-8 52.

Three-pointers: Cowley 7-21 (Smith 2-6, Martinez 2-6, Pyle 2-3, Yates 1-3, Murphy 0-1, Knight 0-1, Molina 0-1), Seward 3-15 (Kennedy 1-3, Myers 1-2, Marchino 1-1, Ellis 0-3, Kincaide 0-2, Burnham 0-1, Hunt 0-1, Gordon 0-1, Grant-Bobb 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 29 (Pyle 11), Seward 37 (Myers 9). Assists: Cowley 12 (Murphy 5), Seward 12 (Gordon 6). Turnovers: Cowley 8, Seward 13. Total fouls: Cowley 15, Seward 17. Fouled out: Marchino, Myers. Technicals: none.