Broncbusters storm back from 15 down to beat Northwest Tech

Garden City, KS-Jae'Mya Lyons had 16 points and tied a season-high with 19 rebounds, Taya Davis chipped in 19 off the bench, and Garden City erased a 15-point deficit to edge Northwest Tech, 62-57 Saturday afternoon at Conestoga Arena. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and improved the Broncbusters to 6-7 overall and 2-5 in the Jayhawk Conference.  

"I'm happy that we won, but it still wasn't what I wanted to see," Head Coach, Antwain Scales said.  

The win was bittersweet considering Scales lost Jersey Mayfield, who took a direct shot to her face from Sy Crowley early in the second quarter. Then in the second half, Lyons left the game with a leg injury. 

"We just have to be better," Scales mentioned.  

Despite 26 turnovers and a seven-minute first-half scoring drought, Garden City found a way. After Mayfield sank two free throws to put the Broncbusters up 11-9, the Mavericks responded with 17 straight points. And when Aziah Campbell nailed a wide-open 3 from the wing, Northwest Tech had a 26-11 lead with 6:45 to go in the second. 

"We were careless with the ball, and we didn't play great defense," Scales added. 

The Broncbusters pulled to within seven at the half; then outscored Northwest Tech 19-11 in the third. Carter hit three free throws over the final 21 seconds of the period, and Garden City was up 43-42 going to the fourth. 

"When we are aggressive, we are a different team," Scales said.

Trailing by as many as five in the fourth, the Broncbusters never folded. Davis hit two free throws, Lyons made a layup before exiting 20 seconds later, and Davis snuck around two defenders en route to the basket, giving Garden City a 57-56 edge with 3:01 to play. Carter, Davis, and Keyhana Turner then each hit free throws down the stretch, and Northwest Tech was limited to just a single point over the final 4:16. 

Lyons was 8-of-13 in 32 minutes for Garden City. Carter added 15 points and was 9-of-14 from the free throw line.  

Campbell and Sarengbe Sanogo, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, each scored 13 apiece for Northwest Tech.