Lady Tigers' build big lead, hold off Seward 85-74

Taking on a Seward County women's basketball team that was receiving votes in the latest NJCAA Division I rankings, the Cowley College Lady Tigers built a 26-point lead and held on for an 85-74 win Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley (15-9)  had lost its previous nine meetings with the Saints (18-8). The victory moves the Lady Tigers into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 11-8, while Seward falls to third place in the conference with a record of 14-6.

On Wednesday, Cowley led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter thanks to nine points from sophomore post player Martyna Kowalska. The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to 43-29 at the end of the first half behind Kowalska's 17 points and 52 percent shooting as a team.

"Martyna has been asserting herself and finishing better at the rim," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

A pair of free throws by freshman Carson Dean increased Cowley's lead to 57-31 midway through the third quarter. However, Seward would score 11 straight points and ended the quarter on a 19-5 run to close within 62-50.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Seward's Sydney Wetlaufer would pull the Saints within 67-62 with 7:05 left to play. However, Cowley would score the next five straight points and held on for the 11-point win.

Cowley out-shot Seward 49 percent to 31.5 percent as they improved to 10-3 at home. The 85 points tied a season-high.

"Any time you can get a win at home is big," Clark said. "Seward forces you to play faster, but I thought we did a good job of taking quality shots."

Kowalska finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds as Cowley out-rebounded Seward 41-29.

Freshman point guard Onnahili Williams came off the bench to score three points, including a crucial jumper, in the fourth quarter.

"I thought she played scared early, but stepped up and hit a big shot late in the game," Clark said. "I hope that gives her some confidence moving forward."

Sophomore Baylee Fincher continued her torrid stretch of scoring by finishing with a team-high 23 points. Fincher, who went 14-of-15 from the foul line, has scored 20 or more points in five of the past six games and is averaging 22.2 points during that stretch.

"Getting to the free-throw line is something we talked about before the game," Clark said. "We thought we could get to the line and did a good job of making our free throws (28-of-35)."

Seward freshman D'Arrah Allen scored 21 of her game-high 29 points in the second half, while Wetlaufer finished with 15 points. However, the rest of the Lady Saints combined to shoot only 9-of-43 from the floor.

"We guarded really well," Clark said.

The Lady Tigers will play at Garden City Saturday at 2 p.m. The Lady Broncbusters (16-8) are tied with Cowley and Barton for fourth place in the conference. Cowley defeated Garden City 65-55 back on December 13.

"They will try to make the game ugly, so we will need to play well in order to win," Clark said.

Box score:

Seward (74): Zhane Thompson 2-11 2-3 6, Sierra Lynch 2-8 9-13 13, Hulda Joaquim 0-0 0-0 0, Halima Salat 2-12 0-0 4, Miyah Dubose 0-5 0-0 0, D'Arrah Allen 9-22 8-11 29, Jailyn Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Wetlaufer 5-8 0-0 15, De'Shawnti Thomas 1-2 0-0 2, Kynnan Shields 2-4 0-0 5. Totals: 23-73 19-27 74.

Cowley (85): Milena Fromming 2-6 2-2 7, Baylee Fincher 4-10 14-15 23, Carson Dean 6-11 3-3 17, Shamahra Henderson 6-7 2-3 15, Martyna Kowalska 7-18 6-8 20, Onnahili Williams 1-1 1-4 3, Callie Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-53 28-35 85.

Three-pointers: Seward 9-33 (Wetlaufer 5-8, Allen 3-7, Shields 1-1, Salat 0-9, Thompson 0-5, Dubose 0-2, Lynch 0-1), Cowley 5-17 (Dean 2-7, Fromming 1-5, Fincher 1-3, Henderson 1-2). Rebounds: Seward 29 (Thomas 7), Cowley 41 (Kowalska 10). Assists: Seward 9 (Lynch 3), Cowley 13 (Fincher 5). Turnovers: Seward 11, Cowley 24. Total fouls: Seward 27, Cowley 20. Fouled out: Thomas, Fromming. Technicals: Fromming, Salat.