Strong defensive effort leads Lady Tigers to 79-54 home win

The Cowley College women's basketball team led from start to finish in a 79-54 win over Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

The Lady Tigers (2-0) used a 10-0 run to take a 23-11 lead into the second quarter and got 23 combined points from sophomores Martyna Kowalska and Shamara Henderson to lead 41-28 at the end of the first half.

However, the pesky Mavericks pulled within 45-38 following a three-pointer by Jordan Holman with six minutes left in the third quarter, before Cowley was able to push its lead back to double digits (56-43) heading into the final quarter of play.

The Lady Tigers would make 9-of-10 free-throw attempts in the final quarter and held NOC-Tonkawa to 3-of-17 shooting in the fourth as they went on to the 25-point win.

"This was a good, team win for us," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "NOC really battled and was very competitive."

Kowalska helped Cowley win the rebounding battle as she finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds.

"Martyna was very active offensively and on the boards," Clark said.

Henderson added 19 points and four assists on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor.

"Shamara was not only good offensively, she was also really locked in on the defensive end," Clark said.

Fellow sophomore Baylee Fincher scored 13 of her 19 points in the second half and added six rebounds and four assists.

"Baylee seems to fill up the stat sheet every time out," Clark said.

Holman led NOC-Tonkawa with 17 points as the Lady Mavericks are now 1-1 on the season.

Cowley has held its first two opponents to 30 percent shooting, while shooting 45 percent themselves.

The Lady Tigers will now prepare to face the Kansas Wesleyan University JV Friday at noon in Iola, KS.

"We hope to play better and continue to improve," Clark said. "We need to be aggressive and try to figure out our identity."

Box score:

NOC-Tonkawa (54): Jafalyah Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Shelby Rayner 1-2 0-0 2, Jordan Holman 6-16 3-4 17, Delaney Reimer 5-16 2-2 13, Travisha Cogdell 1-3 0-0 2, Morgan Livesay 0-2 0-0 0, Morgan Hawkins 3-6 1-2 10, Lexie Boyer 2-8 0-0 5, Amaya Chandler 0-2 0-0 0, Alena Sly 0-0 0-0 0, Tiffany Ikwumere 0-4 0-0 0, Addie Trent 1-3 0-0 2, Makhia Fernandez 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 20-67 7-10 54.

Cowley (79): Milena Fromming 2-10 3-4 7, Baylee Fincher 5-15 7-7 19, Carson Dean 3-6 0-0 6, Shamara Henderson 7-8 4-6 19, Martyna Kowalska 7-15 5-8 19, Lorette Chene 1-2 0-0 2, Callie Scott 0-0 2-2 2, Lexi Rose 2-2 0-0 5, Jana Radovanovic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-58 21-27 79.

Three-pointers: NOC-Tonkawa 7-32 (Hawkins 3-6, Holman 2-6, Reimer 1-10, Boyer 1-7, Livesay 0-2, Chandler 0-1), Cowley 4-20 (Fincher 2-9, Henderson 1-1, Rose 1-1, Fromming 0-8, Dean 0-1). Rebounds: NOC-Tonkawa 35 (Reimer 6), Cowley 42 (Kowalska 17). Assists: NOC-Tonkawa 7 (Rayner, Boyer 2), Cowley 15 (Fincher, Henderson 4). Turnovers: NOC-Tonkawa 10, Cowley 15. Total fouls: NOC-Tonkawa 23, Cowley 14. Fouled out: Rayner. Technicals: none.