Lady Tigers let fourth quarter lead slip away in loss at Dodge City

The Cowley College women's basketball team held the lead for the majority of its road game at Dodge City on Saturday before the Conquistadors out-scored Cowley 28-7 in the fourth quarter to rally for the 72-59 win.

Cowley is now 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the Jayhawk Conference. Dodge City, winners of four games in a row, improves its record to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

On Saturday, the Lady Tigers led by as many as 10 points in the first half before settling for a 36-29 halftime advantage. After falling behind 42-38 midway through the third quarter, Cowley would close the quarter on a 14-2 run to lead by eight (52-44) heading into the final quarter of play.

Dodge City would regain the lead at 55-54 following a three-pointer by Krystina Hagood with six minutes left to play. Still, leading by one point (58-57) with three minutes remaining, the Lady Conquistadors would out-score Cowley 14-2 the rest of the way.

Cowley would make only 2-of-18 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter.

"We have got to play better, especially at the end of games," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "That is back-to-back games we have had the lead, but weren't able to finish."

Dodge City would make 11-of-28 three-point attempts, while Cowley went just 4-20 from beyond the arc. Another factor in the loss was Cowley's bench being out-scored 16-4.

Lady Tiger freshman Carson Dean finished with a career-high 17 points, while Shamara Henderson (15 points and nine rebounds), and Martyna Kowalska (14 points and 11 rebounds) also played well. The trio combined to go 20-of-41 from the floor, while the rest of the team combined to go 5-of-25 shooting.

Hagood led Dodge City with 19 points, while Bree Stephens added 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Tigers will attempt to snap its three-game losing streak when they host Barton Community College Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Cougars have also dropped three straight and are 3-4 on the season.

"Barton has a nice group that plays hard. We just have to be better at finishing games," Clark said.

Box score:

Cowley (59): Milena Fromming 1-8 0-0 3, Baylee Fincher 2-11 1-1 6, Carson Dean 8-16 0-0 17, Shamara Henderson 6-11 2-3 15, Martyna Kowalska 6-14 2-6 14, Lorette Chene 0-2 0-0 0, Jana Radovanovic 2-3 0-0 4, Lexi Rose 0-1 0-0 0, Nicolette Perez 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-66 5-10 59.

Dodge City (72): Bree Stephens 4-6 7-9 15, Krystina Hagood 6-9 2-2 19, Jenna Rose Mafua 2-6 2-2 8, Jada Burton 3-11 1-2 8, Georgia Gray 2-3 2-4 6, Samantha Koeberer 1-3 0-0 3, Blanche Mampuya 0-2 0-0 0, Destinee Paulk 3-9 1-2 9, Alexis Dixon 2-4 0-0 4, Amanda Sene De Cruz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-53 15-21 72.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-20 (Fincher 1-6, Fromming 1-5, Dean 1-4, Henderson 1-3, Chene 0-1, Rose 0-1), Dodge City 11-28 (Hagood 5-8, Paulk 2-7, Mafua 2-5, Burton 1-3, Koeberer 1-3, Mampuya 0-1, Stephens 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 32 (Kowalska 11), Dodge City 38 (Stephens 12). Assists: Cowley 5 (Fincher, Kowalska 2), Dodge City 14 (Burton 7). Turnovers: Cowley 19, Dodge City 20. Fouled out: Dean. Technicals: Dodge City bench.