CONCORDIA, Kansas — Wednesday night's 54-43 victory over Butler Community College may not top the highlight reel for the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team. But as the calendar inches closer and closer to March and the Region VI Tournament, ugly wins certainly feel better than losses.

"It's getting to the point where we have four games left and then the playoffs and it's not so much about how we play but if we win," said Cloud County head coach, Brett Erkenbrack. His team has won four straight, including back-to-back wins over teams it was chasing in the KJCCC standings in Garden City and Butler.

"These are fantastic wins for us, especially since we were tied with Garden City heading into that ballgame (Saturday), and we were a game behind Butler (Wednesday) entering this game. Now we're tied with Butler for fifth place in the standings, so I couldn't be happier."

Cloud County survived a season-high 34 turnovers to get the victory, avenging a 68-57 loss to Butler back on December 9, thanks to a big scoring effort from sophomore Kelsi Mueller, and a collective effort on the defensive end of the floor.

Butler shot a woeful 19 percent (11of-58) for the game and committed 23 turnovers of its own.

"It was not a well-played game probably by either team, but we played really hard. We competed and that was the key," Erkenbrack said. "Butler has a tendency to make it a muddied up game, low possession game. I wish we would have played a little better and wish we'd have taken better care of the basketball, but the result was great."

Cloud County (17-8 overall, 14-8 KJCCC) got off to a great start in the first quarter to take a 15-10 lead. Mueller set the tone as she scored the T-Birds' first 11 points of the game. She finished with a team-high 16 points with two rebounds and two assists.

The T-Birds never trailed again after the first quarter. But they had to withstand a few pushbacks from the Grizzlies (17-8 overall, 14-8 KJCCC) as they cut the deficit to four on three separate occasions, the last being at the 5:35 mark of the fourth quarter.

Cloud County freshman Courtney Keech and sophomore Kennedy Gay combined to deliver the dagger with 1:35 remaining as the two executed a pick-and-roll to perfection, opening a clear lane for Gay to put the T-Birds up 46-39.

Keech finished the game with six points, six assists and nine rebounds, while Gay led the defensive efforts with five rebounds and a career-high four blocks.

"Kennedy is playing tough and she's competing. Her defensive presence is really key for us and she hit a big basket there late for us to kind of seal it," Erkenbrack said.

Freshman forwards Scout Frame and Courtney Hammel each added eight points, as well, to help pace the T-Birds' offense.

Cloud County will now to keeping build off its four-game winning streak when it hosts Barton Community College at 6 p.m. on Saturday as part of Homecoming and Hall of Fame Night inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium