Lady Dawgs back in win column with victory over Lady Roos
By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
KILLEEN – The No. 6 ranked (Texas Girls’ Coaches Association – Dec. 10) Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs rebounded from their second loss of the season against Ellison last Tuesday at home with a strong win over the Killeen Lady Roos on Friday to get back into the win column and push their record to 15-2 overall, 2-1 in District 12-6A action.
Cove fought off a second-half rally spurred by Killeen’s Taniya Harrison and Tyanna Simpson to escape with a 43-30 win.
After the Lady Roos pulled within nine, 31-22, on a pair of free throws by Harrison to begin the fourth quarter, an 8-0 run by the Lady Dawgs opened a 17-point Cove lead. A basket by junior Jasmine Sankey, free throws from seniors Jaaliyah Segrest and Deja Chapman and a traditional three-point play by senior Leah Powell accounted for the Cove scoring.
A basket each from Harrison and Adriana Garcia; along with a three by Harrison pulled the Lady Roos back within 10 but that was a close as they would get.
A putback by senior Kaysha McCloud pushed Cove’s lead back to 12 and a pair of free throws by junior AZ Knotts closed out the Cove scoring for the 43-30 final score.
Powell led the Cove scoring with nine points along with six rebounds while Knotts added seven points. Seniors MJ Honea, and McCloud added six points each as part of 11 total Lady Dawgs to get on the scoreboard. McCloud also had eight rebounds while Honea added three steals and two assists.
Harrison had 16 points for Killeen to lead all scorers. She also had eight rebounds. Kalia Wilborne added six points and Simpson added four.
The Lady Dawgs came out strong, allowing just two points on their way to a 9-2 lead after one quarter of action.
After a pair of free throws Rhepsey Wyman gave Killeen the lead to open the contest, the Lady Dawgs scored 13-unanswered points to take an 13-2 lead early in the second quarter. Baskets by junior Micah Anderson and McCloud gave Cove the lead at 4-2. A three pointer by Knotts and a pair of free throws by Powell ended the first quarter with a 9-2 score.
A putback by senior Livonna Wallace and a basket by Knotts made it a 13-2 contest before a three-pointer by Harrison slowed the Lady Dawgs’ momentum temporarily, however, Honea answered with a three of her own to push the lead back to 11, 16-5.
Harrison connected on 3 for 4 free throws for Killeen and Powell connected on two free throws to push Cove lead to 10, 18-8, with 3:04 left in the half.
A putback by senior Keana Garrett and a basket by Anderson grew the Cove lead to 14, 22-8 before a three-pointer by Wilborne halved the lead, 22-11, to end the second quarter.
The Lady Dawgs travel to Waco to take on the Lady Lions tonight before returning home on Friday to face the no. 25 Waco Midway Pantherettes before heading to Bryan-College Stattion to compete in their final tournament of the year – the Aggieland Tournament.