February 26, 2020

The Coffeyville Community College Red Raven Women's Basketball team defeated the Garden City Broncbusters 79-65 in the first round of the 2020 Region VI Women's Division I Tournament.  With the win, the Red Ravens extended their overall record on the season to 25-6.

Coffeyville and Garden City came into their first-round matchup as the #3 and #14 seeded teams respectively.  When you think of the #3 vs the #14 you would naturally think that the #3 seed will cruise through for the easy victory.  The 79-65 victory for the Ravens at first glance even points to that conclusion, however, this particular game was closer then the final score would indicate.

The game started with Coffeyville jumping out quickly to a 9-2 lead behind an early 8 points from Raven freshman basketballer Faith Simpson (more on her in a minute).  Garden City answered immediately with a 9-2 run of their own to tie the game at 11-11.  From that point through the rest of the first half, both teams were tightly matched with the Ravens holding a slim 17-16 lead after the first quarter and Garden City able to build a 39-35 halftime lead. 

The second half saw Coffeyville's defense stiffen to the tune of only allowing Garden City 26 points total in the second half.  The Ravens kept up the offensive pressure scoring 21 points in the third quarter and 23 points in the fourth. 

"I thought the game would be tough, Garden likes to take you off the bounce and we didn't guard the bounce very well.", Raven head coach Tony Turner said after the game.  "We did a much better job the second half guarding the ball."

A key moment in the game happened with about 3 minutes remaining in the game.  Two players for Garden City were called for technical fouls on the same play.  Raven sophomore Ania Markowskia and freshman Kailyn Lay stepped up and sank a total of 5/6 free throws that allowed Coffeyville to cruise in with the 79-65 victory.

The unstoppable force in this game for the Red Ravens offensively was basketball freshman Faith Simpson.  Simpson had a stat line of 37 points on 17/22 shooting and 12 rebounds.  25 of Simpson's 37 points came in the second half where Simpson was unstoppable under the basket.  For those wondering, the single-game scoring record in women's Raven history is 49 points held by April Jean in a game during the 2000-01 season.

The victory pushes Coffeyville into the quarterfinal round of the Region VI Tournament where they will face the #6 seeded Barton Cougars.  The remaining rounds of the tournament will be played at the United Wireless Arena in Dodge City Kansas.  The Coffeyville, Barton quarterfinal game is scheduled for Saturday, February 29th at 5:00 pm in Dodge City.

The full 2020 Region VI Women's Div I Tournament bracket can be found by clicking HERE!