Big third quarter helps Cowley pull away for a 57-44 road win
Using a 22-0 third quarter run on the road at Colby Community College on Saturday, the Cowley College women’s basketball team turned a tie game (23-23) into a double-digit road win as the Lady Tigers defeated the Trojans 57-44.
Cowley improves its record to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. Colby, led by former Lady Tiger head coach Darin Spence, is now 5-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
Colby led 12-11 at the end of the first quarter before Cowley went into halftime with a slim 23-20 advantage.
"We really struggled with Colby early," Coley head coach Todd Clark said. "I thought they took us out of a lot of things."
After the Trojans tied the game at 23-23, Cowley would go on to outscore Colby 24-2 to take a commanding 47-25 lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Colby fought back to within 51-44 on a basket by Piri Lewis with 4:21 remaining, but that would be the final points the Trojans would score as Cowley scored the final six points to win by 13.
Freshman Aniyah Burney came off the bench to lead Cowley with 18 points. Megan Simon added nine points and eight rebounds, while Saliyah Henderson-Johnson filled up the stat sheet, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds, five steals, three assists, and two blocked shots.
"We had a nice balance of scoring with Aniyah Burney leading the way," Clark said.
Cowley held Colby to 31 percent shooting and forced 23 Trojan turnovers.
"It was a great road effort," Clark said.
Dessirae Ulmer led the Trojans with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Cowley will attempt to make it three wins in a row when they host No. 25-ranked Coffeyville (9-1) on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Red Ravens are 3-1 in the Jayhawk Conference.
"Coffeyville has a very strong team with a lot of sophomore leadership," Clark said. "We will have to play well."