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By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor

Just about every day in practice, Cowley College plays a game called 'Spur Drill.'

It is based off a drill San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich runs in one of his skills DVDs. Cowley coach Todd Clark said the purpose is to get stops on the defensive end.

"The defensive team has to get seven stops to win the game," Clark explained. "The whole concentration is defense. You're not worried about scoring, although you have to score to get back on defense. Every time a situation like that comes up, the kids are automatically yelling, 'Spur Drill, Spur Drill.' "

The Lady Tigers didn't need to worry about seven stops against Johnson County. Just one. And they can credit the four-time NBA champion coach for the drill, as it became quite handy Wednesday evening.

Elena Yankova and Gabbie Curtis, more known for their scoring, made the two biggest plays on defense last night. Curtis blocked Schwab's tying three-pointer attempt. Yankova then blocked Heather Rourk's tying three-pointer attempt. Johnson County grabbed Rourk's miss, but Meghan Waggoner had a three-pointer bounce off the rim to give the Lady Tigers a thrilling 57-54 win over the fourth-ranked Lady Cavaliers (No. 3 NJCAA Division II) at W.S. Scott Auditorium.

Given the amount of fatigue Cowley had near the end of the game, Clark couldn't have been happier about the victory.

"I thought we had opportunities to fold," he said. "I was very concerned. We were worn out. We had trouble getting up and down the court. Just a little bit of everything. I'm really proud of our players of how they did. We battled and competed for the entire 40 (minutes)."

Cowley (9-7, 4-0 Jayhawk East) led most of the second half, but were unable to grab a substantial lead.

"Bebe" Holloway gave Cowley a 51-45 lead on a putback with 4:31 remaining. Just over a minute later, Holloway hit a turnaround jumper off an inbounds pass while being fouled. She couldn't convert the free throw, but gave the Lady Tigers a five-point lead.

Holloway was one of three Lady Tigers in double figures, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds. Whitney Williams recorded a double-double, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Cowley only went 3 of 11 at the foul line. Johnson County wasn't much better, as it finished 11 of 18.

The Lady Cavaliers weren't about to go away. Waggoner drilled a three-pointer to cut Cowley's lead to 53-52. Following a Curtis jumper, Waggoner again brought Johnson County (12-4, 2-2) to within one point with 1:27 remaining.

After being limited to only two points at halftime, Waggoner asserted herself in the second half. She was aggressive in getting to loose rebounds, the foul line and also made key shots. She nearly finished with a double-double, recording 18 points and nine rebounds.

"She's a good player," Clark said. "We're fortunate she didn't come back and beat us. She's hard to guard. She gets to the free-throw line a bunch. That's a difficult matchup."

Whitney Williams gave the Lady Tigers just enough insurance, recording a putback off of a Yankova miss for a three-point lead with 29 seconds remaining.

After scoring eight points in the first half, Yankova made her mark in the second. Yankova scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the first eight minutes of the half.

The slippery 6-foot freshman used the baseline to her advantage to score many of her baskets. She attacked the baseline for a 28-26 Cowley lead less than three minutes into the half. Later, she nailed a baseline jumper for a three-point lead.

"That's Elena game," Clark said. "She likes that spot on the floor. In America, defenders tend to take away the middle and their giving up a lot of baseline to her."

Yankova gave Cowley its biggest lead of the second half, 36-28, on a jumper as the shot clock was winding down.

When she wasn't scoring, Yankova was dishing the ball off to her teammates. She finished with five assists.

Curtis gave Cowley an 18-10 lead with 6:43 remaining in the first half. She finished with eight points.

Amanda Ditmer gave Johnson County its final lead on the evening, 21-20, on a putback with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Johnson County's only other lead, 5-4, came on a Brittney Slifer three-pointer.

Box score:

Johnson County: Waggoner 5-13 6-9 18; Rourk 2-5 4-6 8; Schwab 2-4 0-0 6; Buenger 2-3 1-2 5; Ditmer 2-3 0-0 4; Stone 2-5 0-1 4; Rothweiler 2-4 0-0 4; Slifer 1-6 0-0 3; Shows 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-45 11-18 54.

Cowley: Yankova 10-17 2-2 22; Holloway 5-8 1-5 11; Williams 5-15 0-2 10; Curtis 4-12 0-0 8; Cherry 2-3 0-0 4; Wright 1-4 0-2 2. Totals 27-63 3-11 57.

Halftime -- Cowley 24, Johnson County 21. Three's -- Johnson County 5-10 (Waggoner 2, Schwab 2, Slifer); Cowley 0-4. Rebounds -- Johnson County 27 (Waggoner 9); Cowley 30 (Williams 10). Assists -- Johnson County 7 (Rourk 2); Cowley 7 (Yankova 5).