Abilene Cowgirls 38 Chapman Lady Irish 20
The Chapman Lady Irish were the perfect medicine for an Abilene team desperate for a victory Friday night, in Chapman. The Cowgirls used a suffocating defense on their way to the season sweep of Chapman. The Lady Irish managed just 4 combined points in the second and third quarters.
Chapman Freshman, Elyssa Frieze hit a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter to give the Lady Irish a 7-6 advantage. Chapman would struggle to score the rest of the night. They were shut out in the second quarter which enabled Abilene to take a 12-7 lead into halftime.
The Cowgirls put the game away in the third quarter. They outscored the Lady Irish 16-4 and took a 28-11 lead into the fourth quarter. Abilene cruised in the fourth and built leads of 18 on two separate occasions.
The Cowgirls had three players in double-figures. Abi Lillard led the way with a game-high 12 points. Jenna Hayes, Abilene’s second-leading scorer, had struggled of late with just 7 points in her last three games against quality competition. She erupted for 10 points, which was the third time that she’s reached double-figures this season. The Cowgirls also got a career-high 10 points from Freshman, Claira Dannefer, with all of her points coming in the second half. Abilene improved to 4-13, 2-7 with the victory.
Chapman was led in scoring by Sophomore Maya Kirkpatrick, she finished with 11 points in the loss. The Lady Irish fell to 1-15, 0-10 on the season.
Abilene Cowboys 60 Chapman Irish 50
The Abilene Cowboys won their 15th straight game against their county rival Tuesday night. Abilene used a monster run that bridged the second, third and fourth quarters to blow the game open. The Cowboys lead 23-19 with 3:37 to play in the first half. Abilene would score the final 8 points of the second quarter to take a 31-19 lead at the half. The Cowboys would then outscore Chapman 11-1, in the third quarter, and led 42-20 after 3 quarters. Avery Bryson scored the first points of the 4th quarter and Abilene took a 44-20 lead with 7:33 to play. The bucket by Bryson capped a 21-1 run by the Cowboys.
After falling behind by 24 points, Chapman’s offense came to life. They outscored Abilene 30-18 in the final quarter and got as close as 9 points. The two teams will meet again Tuesday in Abilene, in the opening round of Sub-State.
Abilene improved to 10-5, 6-3 with the victory. The Cowboys were led by Kaleb Becker, who finished with a game-high 18 points, they also got double-figures from Avery Bryson 15, Josh Stuber 10 and Blaise McVann 10.
The Irish fell to 3-13, 1-9 with the loss. They were led by Camden Liebau, who finished with a team-high 17 points. Chapman also got double-figures from Trey Adams with 11 points.
Abilene will wrap up the regular season with a home double-header with Concordia Thursday. Chapman will travel to Rock Creek for a double-header Thursday.
