CONCORDIA -- Holding just a seven-point halftime lead, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would use a 21-point third-quarter surge to extend their lead to double digits and pull away from the Bethany College JV team for a 73-55 home victory inside of Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday.
With a season-opening win, Cloud County improves to 1-0 and concludes their scheduled non-conference slate as Kansas Jayhawk Community College action will begin next week.
Things would get off to a slow start on both sides as the T-Birds would score the lone point in the opening two and a half minutes on a Le'Yanna McGinnis free throw to open the scoring as Cloud County would hold Bethany scoreless for nearly the opening five minutes of the contest. Holding a 7-2 lead just past the halfway point of the opening quarter, freshman Derin Akdeniz would go on a five-point scoring spurt for the T-Birds to offset a triple from Bethany which allowed CCCC to take their largest lead of the quarter at 12-5. The Swedes would then battle back with a 10-0 run to grab their first lead of the contest at 15-12 before seeing a Lexi Jeffcoat three in the final seconds of the quarter knot things up at 15 all heading to the second.
Bethany would briefly reclaim the lead in the opening minute of the second before seeing Cloud County get a Jailynn Brooks triple and Kennedy Becker layup to put CCCC up 21-18 with 7:28 left in the first half. The score would become tied once again with 4:35 left in the second quarter as the Swedes would use a Mary Parks trey to pull even at 23-23 but Cloud County would once again have a response by closing out the first half on a 10-3 run to go up 33-26 at the break.
McGinnis would take over to begin the third quarter by scoring the first six points of the half for Cloud County to put the T-Birds up double-digits at 39-28, but Bethany would not go away quietly. Following a timeout, the Swedes would connect on a Lexi Neel three and add a layup as part of an 8-0 run to get back within three with 4:15 left in the quarter. A pair of Branda Boakye free throws and a layup by Keys would give the T-Birds some breathing room once more as the points would be part of a 14-2 run to close out the third by Cloud County to grab a 54-41 lead heading to the fourth.
CCCC would manage to score the first four points of the fourth courtesy of a pair of layups from McGinnis but Bethany once again would find a way to hang around thanks in part to back-to-back threes from Megan Bartel. After seeing the Swedes pull back within nine at 58-49 with 7:21 remaining, Cloud County would score 12 of the next 13 points to go up by 20 and put the game out of reach with just over two minutes remaining. Five of the final eight points in the contest would go the way of the Swedes, but it would be Cloud County coming away victorious to pick up a season-opening win at home.
Rebounding and second-chance points would play a key role in the victory as the T-Birds would outrebound the Swedes by a 55-36 margin with 20 of the 55 rebounds coming on the offensive glass. CCCC would manage to outscore Bethany 18-11 in second-chance points and double-up the Swedes in points in the paint by a 32-16 margin.
Leading the way for the T-Birds was McGinnis as the Olathe native would put up a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double in her debut in black and gold while also recording five blocks. Starting guard Sydni Keys would join McGinnis in double-figures by adding 12 points on four-of-seven shooting to go along with four steals while Brooks would add 10 points off the bench in 26 minutes of action. Bethany would be led by Jericka Moore with 12 points while Mary Parks would add 11 to finish as the only two Swedes in double-figures.
What's next?
Cloud County will begin a daunting 20-game KJCCC schedule on Wednesday as the T-Birds will host Northwest Kansas Technical College in the conference opener for both squads. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. from Arley Bryant Gymnasium as the Mavericks will be opening their 2021 campaign against CCCC.
--cloudtbirds.com--