Starters lead the way in Lady Tigers’ 73-50 road win
Getting a career-high 25 points from sophomore Mallory Jackson and having all of its points come from its starting five, the Cowley College women’s basketball team used a big third quarter to pull away from struggling Independence Community College in a 73-50 victory on Wednesday in Independence.
The victory, the fourth in the past five games for the Lady Tigers, improves Cowley's record to 15-15 overall and 10-12 in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley is tied for eighth place in the conference with Garden City, with two conference games remaining.
Indy, losers of six in a row, falls to 5-23 and 2-20 in the conference.
Cowley opened Wednesday's game by burying four three-pointers in the first three minutes as they led 14-0. Jackson and Aniyah Burney each went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc in the opening quarter as the Lady Tigers shot 7-of-10 from three-point range and led 27-12.
However, Cowley went scoreless over the final five minutes of the second quarter and was outscored 14-10 as Indy trimmed its deficit to 37-26 at the end of the first half.
The Lady Tigers scored the first six points of the second half and got a combined 12 points from Megan Simon and Saliyah Henderson-Johnson while outscoring Indy 19-8 in the third quarter.
"I thought we got complacent in the second quarter, but I was glad we snapped out of it in the third," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.
Leading 56-34 entering the final quarter, Cowley would go on to lead by as many as 29 points in the road win.
Jackson went 6-of-11 from three-point range, while Burney went 3-of-5 beyond the arc and added 15 points.
Megan Simon scored 13 of her 17 points after halftime, while Naya Burleson (10 points) and Saliyah Henderson-Johnson (six points) rounded out the scoring for the Tigers.
"Megan and Mallory had huge games," Clark said. "Saliyah also had a great second half, and Aniyah Burney fought through a hard fall. It was a good team win."
Cowley held Independence to 35 percent shooting and forced the Lady Pirates into 26 turnovers. Flutra Mehmeti was the lone Independence player to score in double figures, finishing with 12 points.
The Lady Tigers will now prepare for their final regular-season road game when they play at Seward County on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Saints are 18-10 overall and 13-9 in conference play. They defeated Cowley 73-52 on January 14 in Ark City.
Box score:
Cowley (73): Mallory Jackson 9-17 1-1 25, Aniyah Burney 5-12 2-2 15, Naya Burleson 3-5 3-4 10, Megan Simon 5-15 7-7 17, Saliyah Henderson-Johnson 3-5 0-0 6, Braylee Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Zuzanna Komor 0-3 0-0 0, Zari Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Kierslynn Waggoner 0-0 0-0 0, Makenna Justus 0-0 0-0 0, Yatzel Renteria 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 25-61 13-14 73.
Indy (50): Joy Biribebe 2-3 0-0 4, Maddie Moran 0-2 3-4 3, Rylan Chandler 3-7 1-4 8, Nyah Chandler 3-7 0-0 7, Flutra Mehmeti 4-9 0-0 12, Danaiya Stillwell-Smith 3-10 2-2 8, Jade Oliney 3-5 0-1 6, Philippa Ferguson 1-6 0-0 2, Mimi White 0-3 0-0 0, Jada Walton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-53 6-11 50.
Three-pointers: Cowley 10-22 (Jackson 6-11, Burney 3-5, Burleson 1-3, Henderson-Johnson 0-2, Komor 0-1), Indy 6-22 (Mehmeti 4-8, N. Chandler 1-3, R. Chandler 1-1, Ferguson 0-4, Stillwell-Smith 0-2, Moran 0-1, Oliney 0-1, White 0-1, Walton 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 36 (Simon 7), Indy 37 (Biribebe, Stillwell-Smith 7). Assists: Cowley 15 (Henderson-Johnson 5), Indy 8 (Stillwell-Smith 3). Turnovers: Cowley 14, Indy 26. Total fouls: Cowley 9, Indy 14. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.