Women's Basketball | 1/11/2025 8:25:00 PM

Box Score The Cowley College women's basketball team used a 35-8 advantage in points off turnovers to defeat Cloud County Community College in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play Saturday, January 11 at Arley Bryant Gymnasium.

The win improves the Tigers to 11-5 overall and 6-5 in KJCCC action, while the T-Birds fall to 10-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

Cowley College had a 17-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers then shot 50.0 percent from the field in the second period, including 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from three-point range, pushing their lead out to as many as 12 points before settling for a seven point halftime lead at 44-37.

The Tigers kept the lead in the second-half. Cowley opened the third quarter on a 17-6 run, grabbing its biggest advantage of the game at 61-43 with 3:26 remaining in the third period. The Tigers forced the T-Birds into 11 turnovers in the third and maintained a double-digit advantage at 65-52 entering the fourth.

Freshman forward Shea Wurtz scored Cloud County's first four points of the fourth quarter, trimming Cowley's lead down to nine points at 65-56 with 9:01 remaining. Following an Elysa Martinez three-pointer for the Tigers, freshman forward Talasia Thomas scored on back-to-back possessions in the paint to make it an eight point game at 68-60 with 7:42 to go.

Martinez was quick to provide an answer, scoring five straight points for Cowley to extend their lead back to 13 points with 6:17 to play. Martinez, a 5-foot-5 sophomore guard, had 14 of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and the Tigers were never threatened down the stretch.

Martinez shot 12-of-24 (50.0 percent) from the floor, including 3-of-9 (33.4 percent) from behind the arc. She also added four steals, three rebounds and two assists to her stat line.

Sophomore guard Destiny Yates also knocked down three triples for Cowley to finish with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Tigers shot 29-of-74 (39.2 percent) overall and 12-of-39 (30.8 percent) from long-range. Meanwhile, Cloud County was 22-of-52 (42.3 percent) from the floor and just 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) from behind the arc. The T-Birds ended the night with 29 turnovers and were outscored 13-6 in fast break points and 27-20 in points off the bench.

Thomas paced the T-Birds with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Wurtz finished with 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Freshman guard Bre Frazier battled foul trouble, ending the night with eight points. Sophomore guard TiAna Davis and freshman forward Lilliana Petersen had seven points each. Freshman guard Kiley Smich added five points, three rebounds and three assists, while freshman guard DaNae Crosby had four points, four rebounds and five assists.

Cloud County returns to action on Monday, January 13 at 2 pm with a makeup game at Garden City Community College. The T-Birds have won six of its last seven games against the Broncbusters on the road, but Garden City won the last meeting in the series, defeating Cloud County 80-65 at Conestoga Arena on February 3, 2024. Last season, Cloud County and Garden City split the season series, with each team winning on its home court.