Lady Tigers lose another close game, 70-67 to Barton

In what has been the case in each conference game this season, the Cowley College women's basketball team held a fourth quarter lead before watching the opponent rally to win. This time, Cowley held a slim one-point lead over Barton County entering the final quarter of Wednesday's game inside W.S. Scott Auditorium before the Cougars came from behind to win 70-67 win.

"We just can't do enough to finish games right now," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "If I had an answer as to why, I would fix it."

Cowley led 17-11 after one quarter of play before finding themselves trailing 30-29 at the end of the first half. A back and forth third quarter saw Cowley regain a 49-48 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

The fourth quarter saw five lead changes, with Cowley's final lead coming at 63-62 following a basket by Shontrice Austin with 1:37 remaining. Barton would go back on top and twice Cowley pulled within one point of the lead  before a pair of free-throws by Barton's Vanessa Oduah increased the Lady Cougars' lead to 70-67 with 5.7 seconds left.

With one final chance to send the game to overtime, Cowley sophomore Torri Vang's three-point attempt was off the mark as Barton escaped with the road win.

Uduah scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to lead Barton. The Lady Cougars are now 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the Jayhawk West.

Austin led Cowley with 19 points on 9of-14 shooting. Freshman Martyna Kowalska (13 points, 14 rebounds) recorded her second straight double-double, while Ryley Beard came off the bench to score 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range.

"Those three played well, we just need to get more people to contribute," Clark said.

Cowley, which is 2-3 overall and 0-3 in the Jayhawk East, will look to earn its first conference win of the season when they host Northwest Kansas Tech Saturday at 5:30 p.m. For the first time this season, the KJCCC will allow fans to make up 25 percent of the capacity of W.S. Scott Auditorium.

The Lady Mavericks are 3-0 in the Jayhawk West with guards Lauryn Vieira and Chloe Andrew averaging over 20 points a piece to pace Northwest Kansas Tech.

"They are really good," Clark said. "We hope having some fans in attendance will help."

Box score:

Barton (70): Bryn Willt 0-0 1-2 1, Tiffany Dortland 2-7 4-4 9, Queen Ulabo 4-14 1-3 9, Vanessa Oduah 7-20 6-10 20, Cora Anderson 3-4 0-0 6, Gabby Flute-Player 5-6 0-0 10, Brenna Kirchoff 2-3 0-0 4, Lyndi Rumford 2-5 0-0 4, Rebecca Leveque 2-5 1-1 5, Marliah Johnson 1-3 0-2 2. Totals: 28-67 13-22 70.

Cowley (67): Jayden Marlnee 1-3 1-2 3, Seanna Boltz 1-5 3-4 5, Shamara Henderson 2-10 0-1 4, Shontrice Austin 9-14 1-3 19, Martyna Kowalska 6-13 1-2 13, Ryley Beard 5-9 3-3 17, Baylee Fincher 2-9 2-3 6, Milena Fromming 0-5 0-0 0, Torri Vang 0-3 0-0 0, Teagan Brouwer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-72 11-18 67.

Three-pointers: Barton 1-7 (Dortland 1-2, Oduah 0-2, Rumford 0-2, Leveque 0-1), Cowley 4-18 (Beard 4-6, Fincher 0-4, Fromming 0-4, Vang 0-2, Henderson 0-1, Austin 0-1). Rebounds: Barton 53 (Ulabo 11), Cowley 43 (Kowalska 14). Assists: Barton 8 (Oduah 5), Cowley 4 (four players with 1). Turnovers: Barton 12, Cowley 7. Total fouls: Barton 12, Cowley 21. Fouled out: Henderson. Technicals: none.