Web posted
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Lady Tigers surging into playoffs
|
Cowley logo
click image to enlarge
|
Garden City vs. Cowley at 5 p.m
By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
sports@arkcity.net
If you were to ask Cowley College women's basketball coach Todd Clark back in December whether his team would finish this semester undefeated at home, he would've replied: "I would probably say there's no way."
"We struggled in about every aspect of what we did," Clark continued.
Any one particular aspect that stuck out?
"The biggest thing was our effort (in the fall semester)," Clark said. "We didn't know how to play hard all the time. Part of it is being young."
Three months later, the Lady Tigers have turned W.S. Scott Auditorium into their own stomping grounds. Cowley finished the Jayhawk East portion of the schedule 9-0 at home, including wins over then-conference-leading Labette and Independence. All of that after Cowley finished just 3-2 at W.S. Scott Auditorium and 5-7 overall last fall.
For its efforts down the stretch, Cowley has earned the right to host a first round playoff game in the Region VI tournament. Cowley will host Garden City tonight at 5 p.m. The winner advances to the second round at Koch Arena in Wichita and will face the Seward County-Allen County winner Friday at 5 p.m.
The Lady Tigers enter the tournament winners of five straight and nine of their last 11 overall. Clark believes an increased effort on the defensive end is what allowed Cowley to be in the position it is right now -- the No. 3 seed in the Jayhawk East side of the tournament bracket.
With only three sophomores, Clark admitted that it took a little longer -- perhaps too long -- for his team to develop. Now, he believes he has a good mix, especially in the starting lineup.
Elena Yankova (14.2 points) and Gabbie Curtis (10.4) have provided a solid one-two scoring punch. Clark would like to see the freshmen duo, as well as the rest of his team, continue to turn defense into offense.
"The times that they've scored well and done some things offensively is when they create turnovers," he said. "We're going to have to do a little bit of that."
Defense has become Cowley's M.O. Over the last five games, the Lady Tigers surrendered only 44.4 points per game -- finishing the regular season atop the Jayhawk Conference in scoring defense (50.9).
Clark ran a normal run-of-the-mill practice, with a brief film session on Garden City, on Monday before turning more attention to defending the three-point line yesterday.
A concerted effort on the defensive end is paramount to Cowley's success tonight against Garden City (11-9), which has made a living behind the arc this season. While Garden City's three-point percentage (.316) is not overwhelming, its number of attempts (570) has grabbed Clark's attention.
"We're going to have to defend their three-point shooters," he said. "They have five players that have shot more three-pointers than our top three-point attempt player (Gabrielle Curtis, 79 attempts). We've got to get a hand up on shooters. We've got to identify shooters and we've got to challenge every attempt."
Katie Novack (13.2 points) leads the Lady Bronc Busters in made three-pointers (70), while Whitnie Young (10.3 points) and Amber Brown (6.4) provide a balanced supporting cast.
Clark pointed to his team's Jayhawk East-opener on Jan. 5 against Kansas City as the turning point of the season. Just like last season, when Cowley struggled in non-conference play before heating up in Jayhawk East play, the Lady Tigers have heated up at the right time.
Cowley has won six straight first-round playoff games, and will look to extend that string tonight.
"I think we've gotten on a roll, and I think we have confidence we can win against any team," Clark said.
-- -- --
Note: Cowley College students, with a school ID, and Tiger Booster Club members will be admitted free into tonight's game.
|
