Lady Tigers get back on track with a 70-52 win over Pratt
After back-to-back defeats against nationally ranked opponents, the Cowley College women’s basketball team got back in the win column with a 70-52 home win over Pratt on Wednesday.
The victory evens Cowley's record at 3-3 in the conference as the Tigers improve to 7-5 overall. Pratt (6-6), losers of three games in a row, is now 6-6 on the season.
Things started well for the Tigers as they scored the game's first nine points and led 20-3 following a basket by freshman Megan Simon.
Pratt trailed 22-8 at the end of the first quarter before scoring the first six points of the second quarter to pull within 22-14. However, Cowley would push its lead back to 15 points (35-20) on a basket by freshman Savannah Phillips, and went into halftime with a 39-26 lead.
Cowley's lead would grow to 59-43 after three quarters of play.
Pratt would cut the Tigers' lead to 63-51 on a basket by Polla Balint with 3:53 remaining, but Cowley would score seven of the game's final eight points to win by 18.
Cowley forced Pratt into 23 turnovers and held the Beavers to 36.7 percent shooting.
"We were aggressive and played hard," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.
Freshman Aniyah Burney led Cowley with 20 points and three steals, while fellow freshman Saliyah Henderson-Johnson added 10 points, seven rebounds, and five steals.
"Aniyah and Saliyah cause havoc," Clark said. "We have just got to get them to lock in a bit more."
Megan Simon added a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
"She just does her job and plays hard," Clark said.
Amina Allen chipped in with seven points and 11 boards as Cowley out-rebounded Pratt 40-27.
Balint's 24 points led Pratt on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor. Kaloni Brock added 11 points and 15 rebounds, but the rest of Pratt's lineup combined to make only 7-of-37 shot attempts.
Cowley will attempt to make it back-to-back wins when they finish the first semester by hosting winless Fort Hays Tech Northwest (0-12) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Box score:
Pratt (52): Tiffany Singleton 1-5 0-2 2, Emilia Borissova 1-11 0-0 2, Nela Charynek 4-10 0-0 10, Kalani Brock 4-9 3- 11, Polla Balint 11-14 2-2 24, Analia Loera 0-0 0-0 0, Alivia Wright 1-11 0-0 3, Amaya Pierre-Jerome 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-60 5-8 70.
Cowley (70): Braylee Reed 0-3 0-0 0, Mallory Jackson 2-3 3-6 8, Amina Allen 1-6 4-6 7, Aniyah Burney 7-15 3-4 20, Megan Simon 7-13 5-6 19, Zuzanna Komor 1-4 0-0 2, Zari Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Naya Burleson 0-1 0-0 0, Savannah Phillips 1-1 2-2 4, Yatzel Renteria 0-1 0-0 0, Saliyah Henderson-Johnson 5-12 0-0 10. Totals: 24-60 17-24 70.
Three-pointers: Pratt 3-19 (Charynek 2-5, Wright 1-10, Borissova 0-3, Brock 0-1), Cowley 5-17 (Burney 3-7, Allen 1-3, Jackson 1-1, Henderson-Johnson 0-3, Komor 0-2, Reed 0-1). Rebounds: Pratt 27 (Brock 15), Cowley 40 (Simon 12). Assists: Pratt 12 (Borissova 4), Cowley 11 (Henderson-Johnson 4). Turnovers: Pratt 23, Cowley 19. Total fouls: Pratt 18, Cowley 11. Fouled out: Brock. Technicals: Brock.