Lady Tigers come up just short in 71-68 loss to Seward

Hosting Seward County on Saturday, the Cowley College women's basketball team had five players score in double figures, but it still was not enough, as they suffered a 71-68 home defeat. Cowley had two opportunities to tie the game in the final seconds, but each of its three-point attempts was off the mark.

On Saturday, Cowley closed the first quarter on a 14-3 run to lead 20-16. The teams would each score 15 points in the second quarter, and the Lady Tigers went into halftime with a 35-31 advantage.

However, the Saints shot 55.6 percent in the third quarter and out-scored Cowley 27-14 to take a 58-49 lead into the final quarter of play. Allie Myers, a 6'1" freshman from Carlsbad, NM, scored 13 of her game-high 25 points in the third quarter. Myers would also finish with 16 rebounds.

Still, Cowley would not go away quietly as the Lady Tigers scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and trailed just 69-68 following a basket by sophomore Anna Przyszlak with 44.7 seconds remaining.

Cowley would get the ball back with 24.3 seconds left after a traveling call on the Saints' Kayla Peoples. Attempting to take the lead, the Lady Tigers got the ball inside to Przyszlak, whose shot rolled off the rim and into the hands of Myers with 13.7 seconds left.

Forced to foul, Cowley fouled Seward's Xoe Rosalez with 12.6 seconds showing on the clock. Rosales would hit both free throws to put the Saints up three. Needing a three-pointer to tie, Przyszlak would miss a guarded three before Suzanna Komor grabbed the rebound and tossed it back out to Destiny Yates, whose three-point attempt caromed off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

The loss was damaging for the Lady Tigers as they fell into a tie for ninth place in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley is now 11-9 overall and 5-9 in conference play.

With Cowley head coach Todd Clark serving a one-game suspension from the conference for being ejected from the Lady Tigers' previous game at Northwest Kansas Tech, assistant coach Lance Jeffers led the team on Saturday.

"If you are going to win close games, you have got to do the small things and capitalize on our opportunities," Jeffers said. "All in all, I thought the girls played hard."

Freshman Hattie Pyle led Cowley with 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Przyszlak added 15 points, and Komor chipped in with 13.

Seward, winners of five games in a row, improves its record to 12-8 overall and 8-6 in the conference.

Cowley has dropped two straight after defeating No. 14-ranked Butler on January 21. The Lady Tigers will attempt to get back in the win column when they play at Coffeyville on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Red Ravens are 13-7 overall and are in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference with a record of 8-6.

Box score:

Seward (71): Xoe Rosalez 2-11 2-2 7, Ari Gordon 3-5 0-1 6, Alianna Colon 2-6 0-0 6, Jamia Carter 2-5 5-8 9, Allie Myers 11-21 1-5 25, Biyyanah Ellis 0-1 0-0 0, Kayla Peoples 5-8 0-0 12, Sanaa Dennis 0-0 1-2 1, Naomi Aragonez 1-7 2-2 5. Totals: 26-64 11-20 71.

Cowley (68): Destiny Yates 1-4 2-2 4, Ndack Mbengue 4-8 2-5 10, Anna Przyszlak 5-11 4-4 15, Hattie Pyle 4-14 7-8 16, Jaiden Smith 4-7 0-0 10, Zuzanna Komor 5-12 2-2 13, Georgia Knight 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-56 17-21 68.

Three-pointers: Seward 8-28 (Colon 2-6, Peoples 2-5, Myers 2-2, Rosalez 1-7, Aragonez 1-6, Carter 0-1, Ellis 0-1), Cowley 5-20 (Smith 2-4, Pyle 1-5, Komor 1-5, Przyszlak 1-3, Mbengue 0-2, Yates 0-1). Rebounds: Seward 35 (Myers 16), Cowley 28 (Pyle 6). Assists: Seward 12 (Rosalez, Colon 4), Cowley 11 (Pyle 5). Turnovers: Seward 15, Cowley 11. Total fouls: Seward 17, Cowley 19. Fouled out: Mbengue. Technicals: none.