Lady Busters stun Cowley with fourth-quarter rally

Trailing by 12 points with four minutes left in Wednesday's game at Cowley College, the visiting Garden City Lady Broncbusters rallied for a 71-70 road win. Aerihna Afoa's three-pointer with 5.1 seconds remaining capped a 19-6 run to close the game and gave Garden City its first lead since the game's opening minutes of play.

Cowley called timeout following Afoa's three-pointer and were able to inbound the ball from the other side of half court, Unfortunately, the Lady Tigers were unable to get off a good shot as Shontrice Austin's 25-footer was well off the mark as the final buzzer sounded.

"We did not execute well down the stretch and are very disappointed in the outcome," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "Give Garden credit, but I think if we have our fans in the stands they help carry us through to the victory."

The loss drops Cowley's record to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division.

The long three-pointer was one of the few shots Austin missed on the night as the sophomore led Cowley with a game-high 21 points. Freshman Baylee Fincher added 12 points, while Jayden Marlnee finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Cowley led 37-23 at the end of the first half and 64-52 with four minutes remaining before Garden City made its comeback, fueled by 57 percent shooting in the second half.

Garden City (1-0), which had yet to play a game prior to Wednesday's contest, was led by Donetria McGee's 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

Cowley will look to avoid dropping to 0-2 in the conference when they play at Seward County Saturday at 2 p.m. The Lady Saints are coming off a season-opening 95-39 win at Allen County on Wednesday.

"We will have our hands full, so we will need to show up ready to play," Clark said.

Box score:

Garden City (71): Elisabeth Matas-Martin 0-3 0-0 0, Kelani Neves 2-6 0-0 5, Jill Stephens 4-7 1-2 12, Donetria McGee 8-10 4-11 20, Justis Odom 3-9 5-6 11, Alexis Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Ariyanna Hall 2-5 0-0 4, Aerihna Afoa 4-8 2-3 13, Katarina Xagorac 1-3 0-0 2, Britney Mapang 1-3 0-0 2, Elizabeth Sherill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-56 12-22 71.

Cowley (70): Milena Fromming 2-4 1-2 7, Torri Vang 0-3 0-0 0, Jayden Marlnee 3-6 4-6 10, Seanna Boltz 0-3 2-4 2, Martyna Kowalska 2-3 1-2 5, Ryley Beard 3-8 2-2 9, Baylee Fincher 5-9 0-0 12, Shamara Henderson 1-3 0-0 2, Kalyne Daniels 1-2 0-1 2, Teagan Brouwer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-53 17-27 70.

Three-pointers: Garden City 7-19 (Stephens 3-6, Afoa 3-5, Neves 1-2, Matas-Martin 0-3, Hall 0-2, Smith 0-1), Cowley 5-17 (Fincher 2-4, Fromming 2-2, Beard 1-5, Vang 0-2, Boltz 0-2, Austin 0-2). Rebounds: Garden City 39 (Odom 10), Cowley 32 (Marlnee 9). Assists: Garden City 7 (Matas-Martin, Afoa, McGee 2), Cowley 9 (Beard, Fincher, Daniels 2). Turnovers: Garden City 27, Cowley 23. Total fouls: Garden City 20, Cowley 25. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.