Cowley, Hutch women win to set up Region VI semifinal
Cowley College’s three-point shooting have put the Tigers in the Region VI women’s basketball semifinals.
Shooting 32 percent from three this season, Cowley made 16 threes in 35 attempts (45.7 percent) to defeat Butler 84-77 in a quarterfinal game Monday at Hartman Arena.
Cowley will face No. 2 Hutchinson in Tuesday’s semifinals.
“We shoot a lot of shots every day,” Cowley guard Kaitlyn Potter said. “We go in before games and just put up shots. We always get partner shooting and we shoot from beyond the arc.”
A three from Cowley’s Corie Fischer tied the game at 45, with Bridget Mimmo hitting the go-ahead with under two minutes left in the third quarter. Mimmo’s steal resulted in a basket and foul, giving Cowley a three-point edge at the end of the third quarter.
Potter gave the Tigers their largest lead with a three, pushing Cowley out in front by eight. As Butler trimmed the lead down to three, Potter made another three that extended the lead back to six.
“You just have to keep your composure,” Potter said. “We’ve been in a lot of tight games and now we just go with it.”
Butler cut the lead to two before a layup from Rhianna Laing made it a two possession game. Potter secured the victory with another bomb that gave Cowley a seven-point lead with just more than a minute to play.
Butler trimmed its deficit to three points with 30 seconds left, but Cowley made 11 of its last 12 free throws to secure its first win over Butler this season.
“We haven’t had a lot of (confidence) throughout the year. We’ve been really up and down,” Cowley coach Todd Clark said. “It was good for us to finish. We work on situations and stuff, so I felt like they had confidence in their game.”
Hutchinson 63, Barton 44 — Hutchinson jumped to a 14-3 lead with 5:49 left in the first quarter, shooting 66 percent during that stretch. Barton County cut the lead to five, but Hutchinson extended the lead to 12 by halftime and wasn’t threatened in the second half.
“Barton’s really been tough matchup both times we played them in league,” Hutchinson coach John Ontjes said. “They defend well. They take a lot of our strengths away.”
Kiera Rogers had 18 points to lead Hutchinson (31-1).
“We have life and we get to move on,” Ontjes said. “That’s always good when you get to move on in postseason play.”
COWLEY (24-8): O’Neil 4-13 8-10 16, Mimmo 5-11 1-1 15, Laing 7-16 7-8 24, Holloway 0-5 0-0 0, Green 0-2 0-2 0, Espensen 0-0 0-0 0, Pop 1-1 0-0 2, Potter 6-8 0-0 18, Fischer 3-9 0-0 9. Totals 26-65 16-21 84.
BUTLER (24-7): Prince 4-8 6-9 14, Washington 8-14 1-3 21, Carter 3-5 2-6 9, Hannah 4-8 0-0 8, Vann 7-12 2-2 19, Gulledge 0-1 0-0 0, Littlewood 0-0 0-0 0, Bell 2-3 0-0 4, Sanchez 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-54 11-20 77.
Cowley | 12 | 22 | 19 | 31 | — | 84 |
Butler | 13 | 14 | 23 | 27 | — | 77 |
Three-point shooting: Cowley 16-35 (O’Neil 0-2, Mimmo 4-6, Laing 3-9, Holloway 0-3, Green 0-1, Potter 6-8, Fischer 3-6), Butler 8-13 (Washington 4-6, Carter 1-1, Hannah 0-1, Vann 3-3, Sanchez 0-2). Rebounds: Cowley 30 (Laing, Potter 7), Butler 40 (Prince 10). Assists: Cowley 18 (O’Neil 6), Butler 16 (Washington 5). Fouls: Cowley 19, Butler 22.
BARTON COUNTY (17-15): Roenfeldt 2-8 3-4 9, Jones 2-5 4-4 10, Jirak 2-3 0-0 6, Unruh 2-13 0-1 4, Robinson 1-4 0-0 2, Chagas 1-1 0-0 2, Bryson 0-1 0-0 0, Jellison 3-7 0-0 6, Welsch 2-9 0-3 5. Totals 15-51 7-12 44.
HUTCHINSON (31-1): Preisner 3-6 1-2 9, Stahly 4-9 0-0 11, Rogers 8-14 2-5 18, Kennedy-Hopoat 4-7 2-4 10, Butina 4-11 0-0 8, Brown 0-3 2-4 2, McClure 0-4 0-0 0, DeGarmo 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 1-4 3-6 5, Bradshaw 0-1 0-0 0, Barber 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 10-21 63.
Barton | 12 | 9 | 14 | 9 | — | 44 |
Hutchinson | 20 | 13 | 11 | 19 | — | 63 |
Halftime: Hutchinson 33-21. Three-point shooting: Barton County 7-17 (Roenfeldt 2-6, Jones 2-2, Jirak 2-3, Unruh 0-2, Robinson 0-1, Welsch 1-3), Hutchinson 5-14 (Preisner 2-4, Stahly 3-6, Butina 0-1, Brown 0-1, McClure 0-2). Rebounds: Barton County 37 (Robinson 9), Hutchinson 42 (Rogers 7). Assists: Barton County 6 (Roenfeldt 4), Hutchinson 14 (Butina 10). Fouls: Barton County 18, Hutchinson 12.
INDEPENDENCE (13-19): Alston 1-8 0-0 2, Bagshaw 0-5 0-0 0, Moore 2-9 0-0 5, Akuen 3-9 2-2 8, Schoenberger 2-4 0-0 4, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Kelly 0-2 0-0 0, Aktas 1-4 0-0 3, Hajdukovich 1-1 1-2 3, Murdock 0-2 0-0 0, Corle 4-9 0-2 8
SEWARD COUNTY (30-1): Richardson 1-4 0-0 2, Mounsey 6-14 2-2 16, Ocuane 3-7 0-0 7, Seagler 6-15 0-0 13, Grymek 5-9 0-1 10, Bailey 0-0 0-0 0, Val. Caro 1-1 0-0 2, Fungate 0-4 3-4 3, Van. Caro 0-0 0-0 0, Tyson 2-3 0-0 4.
Independence | 9 | 4 | 12 | 8 | — | 33 |
Seward | 12 | 17 | 17 | 11 | — | 57 |
Halftime: Seward County 29-13. Three-point shooting: Independence 2-18 (Alston 0-4, Bagshaw 0-5, Moore 1-3, Kelly 0-2, Aktas 1-4), Seward County 4-17 (Richardson 0-2, Mounsey 2-8, Ocuane 1-3, Seagler 1-4). Rebounds: Independence 42 (Akuen 9), Seward County 33 (Ocuane 7). Assists: Independence 9 (Bagshaw, Moore 2), Seward County 18 (Mounsley, Ocuane, Seagler 5). Fouls: Independence 7, Seward County 8.
This story was originally published March 6, 2017 at 8:28 PM with the headline "Cowley, Hutch women win to set up Region VI semifinal."