Lady Tigers pick up much-needed road win

After a tough start to the conference season, the Cowley College women's basketball team played one of its better games of the season in a 59-50 win at Northwest Kansas Tech Saturday in Goodland, KS.

With the victory, Cowley improves its record to 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Trailing 10-6 in Saturday's contest, Cowley would hold NW Tech scoreless over the final 5:50 of the first quarter as they rallied to take a 13-10 lead into the second quarter. The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to 30-20 at the end of the first half.

Cowley would maintain a double-digit advantage (40-29) heading into the final quarter and led by as many as 15 points (55-40) before the Mavericks used an 8-0 run to pull within 55-48 with 2:15 left to play.

Lady Tiger sophomore Baylee Fincher, who had an off-night offensively, managed to come up with back-to-back baskets to help seal the nine-point road win.

"Baylee hit some big shots when we needed her to," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "I thought we were more balanced offensively and was pleased with the win."

Carson Dean was an efficient 5-of-8 from the floor and led Cowley with 12 points, while freshman Anna Przyszlak made all five of her field goal attempts and scored 11 points in 11 minutes of action.

"Anna was very aggressive and set the tone for us when she came in off the bench," Clark said.

Sophomore Shamahra Henderson also played well, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots.

"Shamahra has been in a little bit of a funk, so we hope this game will get her going again," Clark said. "We feel her best basketball is ahead of her."

Tyjhanae Penny led NW Tech with 17 points and eight rebounds. The Lady Mavericks, losers of five games in a row, are now 4-5 overall and 0-4 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Cowley will return home to face No. 12-ranked Hutchinson Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Blue Dragons are 9-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

"Hutchinson is really good and will provide us with a tough matchup," Clark said. "We will need to guard well to give ourselves a chance."

Box score:

Cowley (59): Gracie Gilpin 3-14 0-0 9, Carson Dean 5-8 0-0 12, Baylee Fincher 4-12 0-0 9, Shamahra Henderson 1-2 6-6 8, N'dack Mbengue 3-6 1-4 7, Stasia Duque 0-0 1-2 1, Brooke Perez 1-1 0-0 2, Anna Przyszlak 5-5 1-4 11. Totals: 22-48 9-16 59.

NW Tech (50): Sy Crowley 5-7 1-1 11, Elisa Sanchez 2-5 0-2 4, Alexzandria Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Sarengbe Sanogo 6-9 1-3 13, Tyjhanae Penny 6-14 2-4 17, Sokhna Toure 0-3 0-0 0, Aziah Campbell 0-2 0-0 0, Dionjane Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Cerena Watson 1-2 0-0 2, Mariam Sanogo 1-6 1-2 3. Totals: 21-50 5-12 50.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-18 (Gilpin 3-10, Dean 2-3, Fincher 1-5), NW Tech 3-16 (Penny 3-11, Thompson 0-1, S. Sanogo 0-1, Toure 0-1, Jackson 0-1, M. Sanogo 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 29 (Henderson 8), NW Tech 24 (Penny 8). Assists: Cowley 8 (Henderson 4), NW Tech 8 (Sanchez, Campbell 3). Turnovers: Cowley 20, NW Tech 21. Total fouls: Cowley 18, NW Tech 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.