Lady Tigers upset 8th-ranked Hutchinson 70-60

On Wednesday, the Cowley College women's basketball team used a big second quarter to defeat eighth-ranked Hutchinson Community College 70-60 inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Cowley improves to 17-9 overall and 12-9 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson (23-3) remains in second place in the conference with a record of 17-3.

The Lady Tigers, winners of four of their past five games, out-scored Hutchinson 28-14 in the second quarter of Wednesday's contest to build a 38-25 halftime lead and then made enough plays down the stretch to hold on for the 10-point home win.

Cowley had dropped nine of the previous 10 contests against Hutchinson, including a heart-breaking 62-60 defeat at Hutchinson on January 4.

On Wednesday, sophomore Jaiden Smith scored 10 second-quarter points and the Lady Tigers shot 63.2 percent from the floor in the second period.

Cowley's lead was trimmed to 50-42 heading into the final quarter of play and the Lady Blue Dragons pulled within 58-57 before the Lady Tigers answered with six straight points.

Cowley held on for the win by making 23-of-27 free-throw attempts, while Hutchinson went just 11-of-22 from the foul line.

"We attacked the basket and got to the free-throw line quite a bit," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

Cowley's starters scored 67 of the team's 70 points and were led by Hattie Pyle's 20 points and nine rebounds. Elysa Martinez added 18 points and four steals, while Alexcia Murphy came up big with 19 points and 14 rebounds.

Although she did not score in the contest, sophomore point guard Destiny Yates finished with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals while holding Hutchinson point guard Landon Forbes to 2-of-14 shooting.

"Destiny was unbelievable," Clark said. "She played 36 minutes of full-court man-to-man defense and does a little bit of everything for us."

One negative in the victory was Murphy being called for a Flagrant 2 foul late in the contest. This means Murphy will be sidelined for the next two games.

Cowley will play at Garden City on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Broncbusters (11-13) are in ninth place in the conference with a record of 8-11. The Lady Tigers defeated Garden City 63-53 on January 8 in Arkansas City.

"We have been doing a good job of staying in the moment and worrying about the opponent in front of us," Clark said.

Box score:

Hutchinson (60): Kahlen Norris 2-7 3-4 8, Hailey Jackson 6-12 5-9 18, Landon Forbes 2-14 0-0 4, Madi Denison 4-5 1-2 9, Jada Pleasant 0-4 1-2 1, Katie Duncan 3-9 0-1 8, Honey Cooney 1-2 0-0 3, Brynne Katcher 3-7 1-4 7, Jaden Wilson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 22-62 11-22 60.

Cowley (70): Jaiden Smith 4-8 0-0 10, Destiny Yates 0-2 0-0 0, Hattie Pyle 7-16 6-9 20, Elysa Martinez 5-14 8-8 18, Alexcia Murphy 5-9 9-10 19, Keturah Stewart 0-3 0-0 0, Mallory Jackson 1-1 0-0 3, Rafa Bergonso 0-0 0-0 0, Georgia Knight 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-53 23-27 70.

Three-pointers: Hutchinson 5-26 (Duncan 2-7, Norris 1-3, Jackson 1-2, Cooney 1-1, Forbes 0-8, Pleasant 0-3, Katcher 0-1, Wilson 0-1), Cowley 3-18 (Smith 2-6, Jackson 1-1, Pyle 0-3, Martinez 0-3, Stewart 0-3, Yates 0-1, Murphy 0-1). Rebounds: Hutchinson 32 (Jackson 9), Cowley 35 (Murphy 14). Assists: Hutchinson 13 (Forbes 5), Cowley 11 (Martinez 4). Turnovers: Hutchinson 12, Cowley 12. Total fouls: Hutchinson 20, Cowley 18. Fouled out: Denison, Murphy. Technicals: Duncan, Murphy.