by Cowley College freshman Seanna Boltz (Oglala Lakota) broke her own school-record for three-pointers in a game with 11 and scored a career-high 41 points while helping the Lady Tigers break their four-game losing skid with a 109-86 win over Jayhawk East co-leader Butler Community College Wednesday night at W.S. Scott Auditorium.
After failing to score more than 67 points in any of its previous four games, Cowley came out on fire on Wednesday. The Lady Tigers scored the first 10 points of the game and led 29-18 at the end of the first quarter thanks to 17 first quarter points by Boltz.
Cowley’s lead would grow to 55-32 at the end of the first half as they forced Butler into 19 turnovers.
“We tried to be a little more aggressive and turn the pressure up defensively,” Cowley head coach Todd Clark said.
The Lady Tigers would lead by as many as 30 points (82-52) following a three-pointer by freshman Jessica McGrath with a little over a minute remaining in the third quarter.
Leading 90-69 midway through the fourth quarter, Boltz hit three straight shots from beyond the arc to cap her 41-point effort.
“She got a lot of looks and her teammates kept finding her,” Clark said. “We got off to the hot start and kept it rolling.”
McGrath came off the bench to go 3-of-8 from three-point range and helped the Lady Tigers’ hit 17 three-pointers as a team. Rashanna Thorne also came off the bench to finish with nine points and three rebounds in 12 minutes of action.
“We had a lot of people contribute to the win and have been trying to go a little deeper with our rotation,” Clarks said.
Sophomore RaVon Nero led Butler with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists. The loss drops the Grizzlies (16-7) into a first place tie with Coffeyville in the Jayhawk East as they are both 9-4 in conference play.
Cowley improves its record to 16-7 overall and remains in fourth place in the Jayhawk East with a conference mark of 6-7. The Lady Tigers will host Independence Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Pirates are 11-9 overall and 8-5 in the Jayhawk East.
“There are no days off in this league, so we will need to be ready to play,” Clark said.
