Tigers turn up the defense in 56-51 road win
Playing at Barton County on Saturday, the Cowley College women’s basketball team forced the Cougars into 30 turnovers and held Barton to only 31.6 percent shooting in a 56-51 road victory.
The win was an important one for the Lady Tigers (10-8), who remain tied with Colby for seventh place in the Jayhawk Conference at 6-6. Barton falls to 6-12 overall and 4-8 in conference play.
On Saturday, Cowley scored the game's first five points and led 10-9 after a defensive first quarter. Neither team could find much rhythm offensively, and the Tigers went into halftime with a 23-22 lead.
Freshman Aniyah Burney came off the bench to provide the Lady Tigers with a second-half spark, scoring 17 of her game-high 21 points over the final 20 minutes.
With Burney leading the way, Cowley led 43-41 at the end of the third quarter and never trailed over the final 10 minutes of the five-point victory. The Tigers held Barton to 18.2 percent shooting (2-of-11) in the fourth quarter.
"It was a great team effort," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "I thought we really had to battle the whole way. It is always good to win when you don't shoot it well."
Burney leads Cowley with an average of 14.6 points per contest and has scored in double figures in seven straight games, averaging 17.2 points per game over the past 11.
Sophomore Mallory Jackson added 12 points and three of Cowley's 16 steals.
Barton's Mary Akinde made just 1-of-8 shot attempts, but grabbed 21 rebounds as the Cougars out-rebounded Cowley 52-30.
The Lady Tigers will now prepare to host No. 3-ranked Dodge City on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Conquistadors are 16-1 overall and tied with Butler atop the Jayhawk Conference standings with a record of 11-1.
Box score:
Cowley (56): Zari Walker 1-4 0-0 2, Mallory Jackson 5-11 0-0 12, Megan Simon 3-13 0-0 6, Saliyah Henderson-Johnson 3-7 1-4 7, Naya Burleson 3-11 0-1 8, Aniyah Burney 8-17 4-5 21, Zuzanna Komor 0-4 0-0 0, Savannah Phillips 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-67 5-10 56.
Barton (51): Regina Donanu 5-12 0-0 10, Keyona Hall 3-4 0-0 6, Alaina Eck 3-9 0-0 8, Kodi Greer 0-3 0-0 0, Mersadie Spray 4-14 3-4 12, Mary Akinde 1-8 2-3 4, Christal Long 2-5 7-7 11, Bryndal Moody 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 18-57 12-14 51.
Three-pointers: Cowley 5-21 (Jackson 2-7, Burleson 2-4, Burney 1-7, Henderson-Johnson 0-2, Komor 0-1), Barton 3-20 (Eck 2-6, Spray 1-7, Greer 0-3, Moody 0-2, Donanu 0-2). Rebounds: 30 (Simon 6), Barton 52 (Akinde 21). Assists: Cowley 7 (Henderson-Johnson 4), Barton 10 (Eck 4). Turnovers: Cowley 15, Barton 30. Total fouls: Cowley 16, Barton 13. Fouled out: Simon. Technicals: none.