Lady Tigers have five players score in double figures in 81-46 home win

After back-to-back road defeats to open the second semester, Cowley (9-7) improves its record to 7-2 at home and evens its record at 5-5 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Lady Pirates, losers of five games in a row, fall to 4-12 overall and 1-9 in the conference.

On Saturday, Cowley forced Independence into 13 first-quarter turnovers as they built a 22-8 lead. However, the Lady Tigers made just 4-of-15 shots in the second quarter as the Pirates cut Cowley's lead to 32-24 at the end of the first half.

The Tigers returned to playing the type of defense that helped them build a big first-quarter lead by forcing nine third-quarter turnovers and holding Indy to 3-of-16 shooting from the floor, as they outscored the Pirates 27-8 to lead 59-32 heading into the final quarter of play.

With the big lead, Cowley had nine players score in the fourth quarter of the 35-point home win.

Aniyah Burney and Megan Simon led five Lady Tigers in double figures with 14 points. Naya Burleson added 11, while Saliyah Henderson-Johnson and Mallory Jackson chipped in with 10 apiece.

"We were more balanced offensively and had several players step up and help us with scoring," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.

The Lady Tigers held Independence to 28 percent shooting from the floor and 1-of-13 shooting from three-point range, while forcing 28 Pirate turnovers. Rylan Chandler led the Pirates with 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

"We were really aggressive defensively in the second half and started getting our hands on a lot of passes," Clark said.

Cowley will attempt to continue its strong play at home when it hosts Seward County on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. The Saints are 12-4 overall and are tied for third place with four other teams, all of which have a conference record of 7-3.

Seward, winners of five of its last six games, is led by Avery Marchino, who averages 21.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

"We will need to slow them down and defend our home court," Clark said.

Box score:

Indy (46): Reyna Edwards 1-4 0-0 2, Joy Biribebe 0-3 0-0 0, Danaiya Stillwell-Smith 5-14 0-0 10, Jade Oliney 2-5 0-0 4, Nyah Chandler 2-10 2-2 6, Maddie Moran 1-2 0-0 2, Rylan Chandler 4-13 2-4 11, Philippa Ferguson 0-1 0-0 0, Cinayah Ekwuruke 1-2 3-6 5, Jada Walton 0-3 1-2 1, Ra'Niyah Tillman 2-7 1-2 5. Totals: 18-64 9-16 46.

Cowley (81): Zari Walker 4-8 1-1 9, Aniyah Burney 4-15 6-9 14, Naya Burleson 4-6 0-0 11, Megan Simon 5-8 4-7 14, Saliyah Henderson-Johnson 5-6 0-2 10, Braylee Reed 2-5 0-0 5, Zuzanna Komor 0-5 0-0 0, Mallory Jackson 4-8 0-0 10, Kalli Harbeson 0-0 0-0 0, Kierslynn Waggoner 0-0 0-0 0, Makenna Justus 1-2 0-0 3, Savannah Phillips 1-2 1-2 3, Yatzel Renteria 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 31-66 12-21 81.

Three-pointers: Indy 1-13 (R. Chandler 1-3, N. Chandler 0-4, Biribebe 0-2, Edwards 0-1, Stillwell-Smith 0-1, Ferguson 0-1, Walton 0-1), Cowley 7-22 (Burleson 3-3, Jackson 2-3, Reed 1-3, Justus 1-2, Burney 0-5, Komor 0-3, Walker 0-2, Henderson-Johnson 0-1). Rebounds: Indy 40 (Tillman 8), Cowley 34 (Simon 9). Assists: Indy 5 (Oliney 3), Cowley 16 (Burney 4). Turnovers: Indy 28, Cowley 15. Total fouls: Indy 16, Cowley 16. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.