CCCC Sports Information
CONCORDIA - Breaking a 37-37 tie with a made field goal midway through the third quarter, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would carry a two-point lead into the final quarter of action and lead the rest of the way in a 62-55 home victory over Seward County Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday.
Snapping an 11-game skid to the Saints, Cloud County picked up their ninth win of the year to improve to 9-1 overall and remain unbeaten in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play to end the night as the only team in the KJCCC with an unblemished conference record. Seward County falls back under .500 on the year by dropping to 3-4 overall while holding a 3-2 mark in the KJCCC after dropping a game to the T-Birds for the first time since Feb. 6, 2016.
Having last trailed in a game back on Nov. 16 in their conference opener against Northwest Kansas Tech, CCCC would see a stretch of 158 minutes and 55 seconds of game action without trailing end as Seward County would score the opening basket of the game before seeing the T-Birds get back-to-back buckets from freshman Josephine Igherighe to take their first lead of the game at 4-2. Responding with a made three and a fast break jump shot, the Lady Saints would reclaim the lead at 7-4 as Cloud County would battle back by scoring 11 of the next 13 points to go up 15-9 with 2:30 left in the opening quarter. Adding to their lead following a made field goal by SCCC, the T-Birds would get two more made shots from Igherighe with a layup and open three on a step-back buzzer beater to end the period while holding a 20-11 lead.
Seward County would return the favor on CCCC by holding the T-Birds scoreless for the opening 4:09 of the second quarter while scoring seven straight points to get within two at 20-18 before seeing a Lilly Smith layup and free throw on a three-point play put Cloud County back up by five. The lead for the T-Birds would then be erased just over a minute later as the Lady Saints would get a made three and layup to tie things at 23-23 before eventually taking a 26-25 lead at the 4:21 mark of the second quarter. Both teams would then trade a pair of free throws to account for two lead changes as SCCC would remain out in front by a 28-27 margin as three more lead changes would occur before the end of the first half. The lone made field goal in the final two-plus minutes of action in the quarter would come courtesy of Te Araroa Sopoaga with a made layup as both CCCC and Seward County would tack on two free throws to end the half with the T-Birds holding a 31-30 lead.
Having won each of their previous eight games this season where they led at the half, Cloud County would see more back-and-forth action to begin the third quarter as both teams would trade field goals before a Lady Saint triple would put SCCC up 35-33 with 7:29 left in the period. Tying things at 35-35 and again at 37-37 with made layups on the offensive end, CCCC would go on to score eight of the next 10 points to go back up by a six-point margin at 45-39 as timely threes from Sarah Lawless and Smith would spark the T-Bird run. A late push from Seward County would get the Lady Saints back within two at 47-45 with 1:20 left in the period, but a made Alize Ruiz free throw with 45 seconds left would give Cloud County a 48-45 lead heading into the fourth.
Scoring the opening four points of the final frame, CCCC would see their lead grow to seven before giving up a pair of free throws to SCCC to keep things within a two-possession margin. The lead for Cloud County would then bounce between five and eight points over the next five-plus minutes of action before seeing Seward County hit a pair of made triples to offset a Maimouna Sissoko layup and get within four at 59-55 with 1:07 remaining. Following an offensive foul on CCCC and SCCC turnover, Cloud County would have the ball with 14 seconds remaining to force the Lady Saints to foul. Not quite in the bonus, Seward County would be forced to commit a second foul which would wind up being called a flagrant one foul for not making a play on the ball that would end up sending Smith to the charity stripe. Hitting one of two free throws, the T-Birds would then retain possession off of the foul and get the ball into Ruiz who would be fouled and connect on two free throws to essentially ice the game away. One final offensive possession from Seward County would see the Lady Saints unable to cut down the deficit any further as CCCC would manage to run off the final three seconds after a defensive rebound to come away victorious.
A less-than-ideal shooting night for Cloud County would see the T-Birds shoot just 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the floor and connect on just three-of-14 (21.4 percent) of their shots from beyond the arc but make up for the lack of offense with an 81 percent free throw percentage (17-for-21). Overcoming 25 turnovers that would lead to eight points for the Lady Saints, CCCC would hold a commanding 48-29 advantage on the glass with 16 offensive rebounds leading to nine second-chance points to go along with 19 points off of 16 SCCC turnovers.
With no player scoring more than 15 in the game for either team, Cloud County would get a game-best 15 points from Sopoaga to go along with 11-point performances from both Igherighe and Ruiz. Ruiz would add a game-high 19 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the year to now have 135 rebounds in 10 games. Seward County would get a pair of 12-point performances from Halima Salat and Kylee Hunt while being held to their second-lowest scoring output of the year.
What's next?
The 42nd all-time meeting between Cloud County and Pratt will take place on Saturday, December 3rd when the T-Birds travel to the Beaver Dome in Pratt to take on a 6-3 Beaver squad that earned an 84-64 road win over the Wayland Baptist JV team on Wednesday evening. Prior to their win, Pratt had lost three of their opening four games in the KJCCC including an 84-75 home loss in their last conference game on Nov. 26 against Butler. Entering Saturday, Cloud County holds a 36-5 all-time record against Pratt with their last loss against the Beavers coming on Jan. 11, 2020.