Cowley College pulled away late for a hard-fought 56-51 Jayhawk Conference basketball victory over the Barton Cougar women on Hall of Fame Saturday inside the Fleske Fieldhouse.
Cowley led by six points before Barton answered with a 6-0 run, capped by a pair of perfect trips at the line from Christal Long and an Alaina Eck layup for a 47-47 tie.
Momentum turned moments later, as a scoreless stretch and four Cougar turnovers fueled an 8-0 Tiger run that proved decisive down the stretch.
Mersadie Spray led a trio of Barton starters in double-figures with 12 points, adding three rebounds and two assists. Christal Long followed with 11 points and seven rebounds, narrowly missing her second double-double of the season, while Donanu chipped in 10 points and six boards.
Despite having her two-game double-double streak snapped, Akinde controlled the glass with a career and game high 21 rebounds, seven coming on the offensive end, to go with four points.
Turnovers ultimately proved costly, as Barton's season-high 30 giveaways led to a 21-6 Cowley advantage in points off turnovers. The Tigers also held a six-point edge in points in the paint, offsetting Barton's plus-22 rebounding margin and plus-nine advantage in second-chance points.
Cowley was paced by Aniyah Burney, who delivered a game-high 21 points off the bench on 8-of-17 shooting. Mallory Jackson rounded out the double-figure scoring with 12 points and three rebounds, while joining three other Tigers with three-steals.
The Cougars (6-12, 4-8 Jayhawk) heads to No. 4 ranked Dodge City Wednesday. The Tigers (10-8, 6-6 Jayhawk) move up the Jayhawk ladder.
The Cougars endured a slow offensive start in the opening quarter, going scoreless over the opening 4:29 as Cowley jumped out to a 5-0 advantage. Trailing 10-4 with 3:25 remaining, Christal Long scored five straight points over the final 2:06 to draw Barton back within 10-9 at the first stanzas end.
Spray's opening trey to start the second quarter kept momentum on the Cougars side, capping an 8-0 run and fiving Barton its first lead of the night at 18-16. The quarter stayed tight from there with three ties over the next five minutes before Donanu sparked a 6-2 run to match Barton's largest lead of the night at four. Cowley swung momentum back late, closing the half on a 5-0 spurt over the final 30 seconds to take a 23-22 edge into the break.
Keyona Hall's jumper at the 8-minute mark put the Cougars up 26-25. Cowley seized control from there, capitalizing on 10 Barton turnovers in the third quarter to build a six-point cushion by the 3:01 mark. The Cougars stayed within striking distance, as Mary Akinde 3-point play and a Spray layup in the final minute trimmed the deficit to 43-41 heading into the fourth.
Cowley 10 13 20 13 — 56
Barton 9 13 19 10 — 51
COWLEY (10-8, 6-6)—Burney 8-17 (1-7) 4-5 21; Jackson 5-11 (2-7) 0-0 12; Komor 0-4 (0-1) 0-0 0; Walker 1-4 0-0 2; Burleson 3-11 (2-4) 0-1 8; Simon 3-13 0-0 6; Johnson 3-7 (0-2) 1-4 7; Totals 23-67 (5-21) 5-10 56
BARTON (6-12, 4-8)—Spray 4-14 (3-4) 3-4 12; Donanu 5-12 (0-2) 0-0 10; Long 2-5 7-7 11; Eck 3-9 (2-6) 0-0 8; Hall 3-4 0-0 6; Greer (0-3) 0-0 0; Akinde 1-8 2-3 4; Moody (0-2) 0-0 0; Totals 18-57 (3-20) 12-14 51
Rebounds—CC 30 (Simon 6); BC 52 (Akinde 21). Assists—CC 16; BC 10 (Eck 4). Steals—CC 8 (Burleson 5); BC 7 (Eck 2, Long 2). TO—CC 15, BC 30
