INDEPENDENCE - After erasing a 26-point second-quarter deficit to take a five-point lead with six seconds left in the third quarter, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would be unable to hold off No. 24-ranked Independence Community College, falling by a final score of 92-82 inside the ICC Gymnasium in Independence on Saturday.
Falling to 10-10 overall, Cloud County is now 6-8 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the league-leading Pirates maintain their two-game lead on second-place Hutchinson by improving to 16-3 overall and 12-2 in the KJCCC.
Despite five missed field goals in the opening four minutes of play by the T-Birds, Cloud County would be able to take advantage of a pair of offensive rebounds and two defensive stops to keep Independence from jumping out to a big lead as CCCC would trail 8-7 with 6:12 left in the first quarter and 10-9 with just over five minutes left in the opening period. Cloud County would then pull back even with ICC at 14-14 on a Te Araroa Sopoaga layup before taking the lead on a free-throw conversion of a three-point play by the freshman as both teams would start to find a rhythm offensively. Four straight free throws however would allow the Pirates to reclaim the lead at 18-15 as Independence would score outscore CCCC 13-6 in the final 2:29 of the quarter to jump out to a 27-21 lead.
Eight straight points by Independence to open the second frame would quickly see the lead grow to 15 at 36-21 as the T-Birds would finally get back into the scoring column on a Rori Cox layup in what would amount to their only points in the first 6:07 of the quarter. The scoring drought by CCCC would allow ICC to grow their lead out to 49-23 with 4:24 left before halftime as the Pirates would connect on eight first-half threes. Needing a spark to try and cut into the massive deficit to build some momentum before intermission, Cloud County would get a Makayla Twyman three to kick off a 13-3 run to end the first half as the Poteau, Oklahoma native would hit two more triples down the stretch to make it a 56-32 halftime deficit.
Twyman would pick up where she left off in the second half, knocking down her fifth triple of the game in the opening minutes of the third quarter as the T-Birds would double up the Pirates 8-4 in the first 3:21 of the quarter to trail 56-44 and force ICC into a timeout. 14 straight points out of the Independence timeout by CCCC which included a pair of three-point plays would allow Cloud County to completely erase the deficit and grab their first lead since the final minutes of the first quarter as a Paula Puzule three would put the T-Birds up 61-58. A five-point spurt from Independence would allow the Pirates to momentarily regain the lead at 63-61, but a layup from Cox would kick off a 7-0 run by the T-Birds in the final 1:25 of the third quarter to cap off a 32-point third quarter from Cloud County to give CCCC their largest lead of the game at 68-63 with 10 minutes left in the game.
The momentum created by the T-Birds over their run would quickly be erased by Independence to start the fourth as nine-straight ICC points would be part of a 14-2 run to start the final period and allow the Pirates to go up 76-70 with 5:15 remaining. Two Kay Hauata-Phillips free throws would bring Cloud County back within four at 76-72, but seven quick points from Independence would put the Pirates on the edge of pushing their lead back out to double-digits. Trailing 83-74 with 2:47 left in the game and in need of a final push to try and close the gap, CCCC would score the next four points of the game to pull back within five with just over two minutes left on the clock but would get no closer as two Pirate treys would slam the door on a comeback and allow ICC to escape an upset bid from the T-Birds.
19 points off turnovers and 10 second-chance points for CCCC would be offset by Independence as the T-Birds would give up a season-high in points (92) and three-point goals (14) as the Pirates shot 53.0 percent (35-of-66) from the field and 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Cloud County would also be hurt by a 43-32 rebounding deficit and only 13 bench points.
A team-high 20 points from Twyman would be paired with a 15-point and seven-rebound performance from Phillips as Cox (15) and Puzule (11) would also reach double figures. Puzule would add six assists and four rebounds while Cox would provide four rebounds and a team-high four steals. Independence would be led by a game-high 26 points and 15 rebounds from Maisa Marcal.
What's next?
A three-game stretch featuring the top-three teams in the KJCCC comes to an end for CCCC on Saturday as the T-Birds will play host to Seward County Community College at 2 p.m. The afternoon will also feature a Cloud County basketball alumni reunion and the induction of the 15th Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame class. Seward County defeated Colby Community College by a final score of 77-52 on Sunday afternoon and will play host to Dodge City Wednesday night before making the trip to Concordia on Saturday.
Jan 24, 2022
T-Bird women fall to No. 24-ranked Independence
Posted Jan 24, 2022 8:54 PM