Lady Tigers look to bounce back in year 20 under Coach Clark
Cowley College head coach Todd Clark experienced something new in his 20th year as head coach of the Lady Tiger basketball team as the squad suffered its first-ever losing season under his guidance.
With a nearly entirely new team assembled for the 2023-24 season, Clark hopes to put last season's struggles behind him as Cowley brought in 15 freshmen to fill out its roster.
"We have several players that I think can help us," Clark said.
Cowley returns only two players from last year's team. Ndack Mbengue, a 6'1" sophomore from Bergamo, Italy, was a late arrival to Cowley a season ago. She started eight games as a freshman and averaged 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per contest and is expected to take on a more significant role in her second year at the school.
Fellow sophomore Anna Przyszlak averaged 8.3 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds during the 2022-23 season.
"We expect leadership out of Ndack and Anna," Clark said. "They have both worked hard in the offseason and have improved."
Mikaela Roanhorse spent last season as a redshirt member of the basketball team. Before coming to Cowley, she was a First Team All-Region selection at Window Rock High School.
Among the newcomers, freshman guard Hattie Pyle was a Second Team All-State selection her senior year at Frontenac High School. She helped Frontenac advance to the Class 3A State Tournament semifinals and scored more than 1,000 points in her high school career.
"Hattie is tenacious, really guards and gets rebounds," Clark said. "We are really excited about her potential."
Zuzanna Komor, a 5'9 freshman from Poland, attended the Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut, where she scored a career-high 33 points in a game.
"She is a very talented, athletic player that we are working with to play a little more under control," Clark said.
Komor, Pyle, Georgia Knight, and Jordan Hammons are in the mix for playing time at the point guard position.
Jaiden Smith, a 5'9" freshman from Oklahoma City, OK, is a solid outside shooter. She was voted the team MVP at Westmoore High School. While Aiyanna Big Man is a 5'7" freshman from Montana who can score the basketball in several different ways.
Big Man, who won four letters at Hardin High School, averaged just over 10 points per game in helping her high school team to a second-place finish at the Class A state tournament.
Other freshmen on the roster are Asia Johnson, Isabella Tyson, Wiktoria Podrouzek, Karma Singleton, Josephine Vourliotis, Destiny Yates, Delaney Qualls, Lily Rhomberg, Makayla Gay, and Kamri Pool of Arkansas City.
"This group plays really hard. There is a lot of learning to do between now and when we tip-off," Clark said. "We have been working hard on getting better defensively."
Cowley will attempt to get off to a fast start as they play their first four games at home and six of its first seven inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.
"How quickly we adapt defensively will be key for us," Clark said. "Also, how we develop an identity offensively and find out who is going to lead us."
After placing ninth in the 13-team Jayhawk Conference a season ago, the Lady Tigers hope to move back into the top half of the conference in the 2023-24 season. Cowley has been picked to finish eighth in the conference, with Butler picked to finish first.
"There are no easy nights in this conference," Clark said. "We will have to be ready to play night in and night out."
Photo Credit: Rama Peroo