London Turner’s late three-point play lifts Garden City over Cowley 62-58

On Saturday, freshman Aniyah Burney scored nine points in the opening quarter as Cowley built a 20-8 lead. The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to 15 (24-9) following a basket by Mallory Jackson before Cowley went into halftime with a 29-22 advantage.

Scoring the first five points of the second half, Cowley's lead grew to 34-22 before Garden City closed the third quarter on a 20-8 run.

With the game tied (42-42) entering the fourth quarter, Garden City was able to go back in front 57-53 on a basket by Paula Fernandez with 3:54 remaining. However, Burney scored the game's next five straight points to give Cowley a 58-57 lead with 1:26 left to play.

The score would remain that way until London Turner's three-point play with 24 seconds left put Garden City in front 60-58.

With an opportunity to go back in front, Burney misfired on a three-point attempt, and the Broncbusters' Caryle Fortas sank a pair of free throws to seal the 62-58 victory.

"I am disappointed in how we didn't finish the game," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "We had an opportunity for a big road win."

The loss drops Cowley's record to 8-6 overall and 4-4 in the Jayhawk Conference. Garden City (11-2) remains two games behind conference-leading Dodge City with a record of 6-2.

Burney led Cowley with 21 points and six assists, but shot only 2-of-14 from three-point range. Megan Simon added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Mallory Jackson finished with 11 points and eight boards.

Paula Fernandez went 4-of-16 from three-point range and led Garden City with 16 points off the bench.

Cowley will face another difficult road test when it plays at No. 14-ranked Butler on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Grizzlies are 13-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

Box score:

Cowley (58): Mallory Jackson 4-8 1-4 11, Amina Allen 1-4 0-0 3, Aniyah Burney 7-21 5-8 21, Megan Simon 5-8 4-5 14, Saliyah Henderson-Johnson 1-5 2-2 4, Zuzanna Komor 0-1 0-0 0, Zari Walker 2-5 0-0 5. Totals: 20-52 12-19 58.

Garden City (62): Luana Luz 0-7 0-0 0, Marshea Fisher 2-9 3-3 7, London Turner 3-6 1-1 7, Deija Roberson 6-9 3-4 15, Caryle Fortas 3-3 4-4 11, Elektra Mjoll 0-4 0-0 0, Sokhna Ndiaye 1-4 0-0 2, Paula Fernandez 6-18 0-0 16, Kelya Penda 2-6 0-0 4. 23-66 11-12 62.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-24 (Burney 2-14, Jackson 2-4, Allen 1-3, Walker 1-3), Garden City 5-30 (Fernandez 4-16, Fortas 1-1, Mjoll 0-4, Luz 0-3, Fisher 0-3, Ndiaye 0-2, Turner 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 32 (Simon 9), Garden City 38 (Fisher 12), Assists: Cowley 14 (Burney 6), Garden City 18 (Fisher 6). Turnovers: Cowley 17, Garden City 13. Total fouls: Cowley 12, Garden City 18. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.