Lady Tigers grind out 61-55 win at Butler

The Cowley College women's basketball team continued its resurgent play on the road with a 61-55 victory at Butler Community College Monday at the Power Plant in El Dorado, KS.

After losing its first four road contests of the season, the Lady Tigers have now won four of its past six games away from home.

On Monday, Cowley came out on fire. The Lady Tigers shot 62.5 percent in the opening quarter, including going 4-of-8 from three-point range, as they led 24-11 after one quarter of play.

"We hit shots early and put ourselves in a good position to win the game," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

Lady Tiger freshman Carson Dean scored eight of her 10 points in the opening quarter.

Cowley cooled off in the second quarter but maintained a double-digit halftime lead at 33-23.

The Lady Tigers' lead would grow to 38-25 following a basket by sophomore post player Martyna Kowalska with seven minutes left in the third quarter. However, Butler's Emily Mandamin went off, hitting four three-pointers in a two-minute span to give the Lady Grizzlies a 41-40 lead.

Cowley would regroup and held a slim, 45-43 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Three-pointers by sophomores Shamahra Henderson and Milena Fromming, sandwiched around a basket by Kowalska, helped Cowley score the first eight points of the fourth quarter.

Butler shot only 28.6 percent in the fourth quarter (4-of-14) as Cowley held on for the six-point win.

"We had a chance to fold after falling behind, so I was proud of the way we fought back and fought the urge to give in," Clark said.

The victory was an important one in the conference standings as Cowley (14-9) moved into a fifth place tie with Barton with a conference mark of 10-8. Butler (14-8) fell into a three-way tie for seventh in the Jayhawk Conference with a record of 9-8.

Sophomore Baylee Fincher finished with a career-high 11 assists to go along with 16 points and six rebounds. Kowalska also stepped up as she was perfect from the floor, going 7-of-7, to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Jaila Harding and Mandamin combined to shoot 13-of-25 from the floor, while the rest of the Lady Grizzlies' combined to go 7-of-37 as Cowley out-shot Butler 44.2 percent to 32.3 percent.

Cowley will return home to face Seward County Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Saints are 18-7 overall and 14-5 in the Jayhawk Conference. Seward defeated Cowley 69-57 back on Dec. 11 in Liberal, KS.

"Seward likes to play fast and will be a tough matchup," Clark said. "We just need to keep focusing on the opponent in front of us."

Box score:

Cowley (61): Milena Fromming 3-7 0-0 9, Baylee Fincher 6-19 2-4 16, Carson Dean 3-9 2-4 10, Shamahra Henderson 4-8 0-0 10, Martyna Kowalska 7-7 2-8 16, Onnahili Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Lorette Chene 0-1 0-0 0, Callie Scott 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-52 6-16 61.

Butler (55): Jaila Harding 7-13 0-0 17, Cameren Downs 1-4 0-0 2, MeKayla Furman 0-6 1-2 1, Kamiyah Lyons 0-2 0-0 0, Kaylee Nero 1-6 0-0 2, Mackenzie Carter 1-4 2-4 5, Jada Knight 0-1 0-0 0, Cymirah Williams 1-6 0-0 2, Mallory Cowman 3-7 3-4 9, Ashton Conley 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Mandamin 6-12 0-0 17, Syncere Harrod 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-62 6-10 55.

Three-pointers: Cowley 9-26 (Fromming 3-7, Fincher 2-9, Dean 2-5, Henderson 2-4, Scott 0-1), Butler 9-30 (Mandamin 5-11, Harding 3-9, Carter 1-2, Furman 0-3, Downs 0-2, Lyons 0-1, Nero 0-1, Knight 0-1). Rebounds: Cowley 27 (Kowalska 7), Butler 37 (Williams 9). Assists: Cowley 22 (Fincher 11), Butler 16 (Downs 10). Turnovers: Cowley 16, Butler 19. Total fouls: Cowley 10, Butler 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.