Williams’ 31 points leads Hutchinson to 63-53 win over Lady Tigers

The Cowley College women's basketball team was unable to slow down Hutchinson Community College freshman Mya Williams in a 63-53 road loss on Wednesday. Williams hit seven three-pointers and scored 31 points to help the Blue Dragons upend the Lady Tigers.

Hutchinson improves its record to 9-2 overall and 3-2 in the Jayhawk Conference, while Cowley falls to 6-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

Cowley started well as they led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Tigers would fall behind 24-19 before a three-pointer by sophomore Milena Fromming, in the closing seconds of the first half, cut the Blue Dragons lead to 24-22.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Williams to open the second half increased Hutchinson's lead to 30-22 and the Blue Dragons would take a 40-33 lead into the final quarter of play.

Cowley remained down by seven (49-42) following a basket by freshman Jana Radovanovic with five minutes remaining before Williams answered with her seventh three-pointer of the game.

"We lost her a couple of times and that really hurt us," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

The Lady Tigers continued to battle but had some costly turnovers down the stretch. Cowley turned the ball over 24 times in the loss, while forcing only nine Hutchinson turnovers.

"They were more physical than we were," Clark said. "They took us out of what we wanted to do and did not handle that very well."

Freshman Carson Dean led Cowley with 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.

"She was one of the few players to get free and get shots," Clark said. "She played really well. Credit to her teammates for finding her when she was open."

Sophomore post player Martyna Kowalska added 15 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

Cowley will now prepare to host No. 25-ranked Independence Community College at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 8. The Lady Pirates are 9-1 overall and tied for first in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 5-0. Following the game against Independence, Cowley will face Seward and Garden City before heading into Winter Break.

"This will be a really tough stretch of games against some high-level teams," Clark said. "We have got to get our act together quickly."

Box score:

Cowley (53): Milena Fromming 2-10 1-3 6, Baylee Fincher 2-8 2-2 6, Jana Radovanovic 1-1 0-0 2, Lexi Rose 0-1 0-0 0, Carson Dean 7-9 3-3 20, Shamahra Henderson 2-8 0-0 4, Martyna Kowalska 7-11 1-2 15. Totals: 21-48 7-10 53.

Hutchinson (63): Natalie Payne 2-3 0-0 4, Kalyn Ervin 5-13 1-2 14, Janaya Washington 0-8 0-0 0, Ziya Simms 0-1 0-0 0, Kali Howard 1-2 0-0 2, Lani Morris 0-1 0-0 0, Mele Kailahi 0-6 3-4 3, To're Alford 3-12 2-2 9, Mya Williams 10-22 4-6 31, Hayley Hughes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-68 10-14 63.

Three-pointers: Cowley 4-16 (Dean 3-5, Fromming 1-6, Fincher 0-3, Henderson 0-2), Hutchinson 11-40 (Williams 7-13, Ervin 3-8, Alford 1-9, Washington 0-7, Kailahi 0-3). Rebounds: Cowley 35 (Kowalska 9), Hutchinson 38 (Kailahi 9). Assists: Cowley 12 (Fromming, Fincher, Henderson 3), Hutchinson 18 (Ervin, Alford 5). Turnovers: Cowley 24, Hutchinson 9. Total fouls: Cowley 13, Hutchinson 12. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.