Sophomores carry the way as Lady Tigers win again, 80-62

Winning for the sixth time in its past seven games, the Cowley College women's basketball team defeated Cloud County 80-62 on Wednesday night inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.

In the final regular season home game for the Lady Tiger sophomores, Cowley improved its record to 19-9 overall and 14-9 in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley remains a half-game behind fifth-place Seward County (14-8) in the conference standings.

On Wednesday, Cowley hit five three-pointers in the opening quarter as they built a 24-12 advantage.

With Jaiden Smith, Elysa Martinez, and Mallory Jackson each scoring in double figures in the first half, Cowley increased its halftime lead to 43-23.

"We played really well at the start and were aggressive," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to as many as 32 points (61-29) before Cloud County closed the third quarter on a 17-3 run to trail 64-46 entering the final quarter of play.

After five straight points by the T-Birds to open the fourth quarter cut Cowley's lead to 64-51, the Lady Tigers responded with a 7-0 run and never looked back in the 18-point home win.

Cowley got a pair of double-doubles from Smith and Martinez. Smith went 7-of-14 from three-point range and finished with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Martinez added 14 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists.

Outside of Mallory Jackson's 17 points, 60 of Cowley's 80 points came from its sophomores.

"I thought all of our sophomores were really good," Clark said. "Destiny (Yates) is a coach on the floor and plays to the end.

Yates finished with nine points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

Cloud made just 2-of-16 three-point attempts, while Cowley went 12-of-32 from beyond the arc.

Lauren Marron's 13 points led the T-Birds. Cloud County is now 16-11 overall and 11-11 in the conference.

Cowley will play its final regular season contest on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. when they travel to El Dorado, KS, to take on Butler at 5:30 p.m. The Grizzlies are 21-6 overall and 16-6 in the conference.

Cowley lost to Butler 65-56 on January 18 in Arkansas City.

"Butler is always a tough place to play," Clark said. "We will need to be ready to play."

Box score:

Cloud (62): Talasia Thomas 3-7 3-3 9, DaNae Crosby 5-17 1-4 11, Shea Wurtz 4-8 0-0 9, TiAna Davis 4-15 0-2 8, Lilliana Peterson 2-7 0-0 4, Kiley Smich 4-5 0-0 8, Lauren Marron 6-11 0-0 13, Meilin Guo 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 28-72 4-9 62.

Cowley (80): Jaiden Smith 7-17 0-0 21, Mallory Jackson 7-12 3-6 17, Destiny Yates 3-5 2-3 9, Hattie Pyle 6-9 1-1 14, Elysa Martinez 6-13 0-0 14, Keturah Stewart 0-3 0-0 0, Rafa Bergonso 1-5 0-0 3, Georgia Knight 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 31-67 6-10 80.

Three-pointers: Cloud 2-16 (Marron 1-4, Wurtz 1-3, Davis 0-4, Peterson 0-3, Crosby 0-1, Thomas 0-1), Cowley 12-32 (Smith 7-14, Martinez 2-5, Bergonso 1-4, Yates 1-3, Pyle 1-3, Stewart 0-2, Jackson 0-1). Rebounds: Cloud 33 (Wurtz 7), Cowley 43 (Smith 11). Assists: Cloud 7 (three players with 2), Cowley 24 (Martinez 8). Turnovers: Cloud 9, Cowley 10. Total fouls: Cloud 15, Cowley 11. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.