LIBERAL, Kan. – Outscored 36-12 from beyond the arc and 24-12 in points off turnovers, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would drop a 90-80 road decision to Seward County Community College inside the Greenhouse in Liberal, Kansas on Wednesday, December 1st.
 
Through 10 games of the 2021-22 season, Cloud County now sits at 5-5 overall with a 1-3 mark in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Saints remain among the top three teams in the KJCCC by improving to 6-3 overall and a 4-1 record in conference play.
 
Seeing the first 2:40 of the game go scoreless, Cloud County would manage to get on the board first with a driving layup from Te Araroa Sopoaga to go along with a shot from Kay Hauata Phillips just over a minute later to put CCCC back up after three straight points from SCCC. Seward County would then score the next six points of the game to go up five at 9-4, but a free throw followed by a triple from Rori Cox would cap off a 4-0 spurt from the second-year freshman to get the T-Birds back within one with 2:59 left in the opening quarter. The final two-plus minutes of the first quarter would then see the Saints score the next six points of the game to take their largest lead of the quarter at 15-8, but freshman Paula Puzule would connect on two three's including one at the buzzer to get CCCC back within one at 15-14 heading to the second quarter.
 
Five straight points from Cloud County to start the second quarter would cap off an 11-0 run that would put the T-Birds up 19-15 in the opening 30 seconds of the second period before seeing four quick points from Seward County tie things at 19-19. The T-Birds would respond with a steal and layup from Sopoaga to go along with two Phillips free throws as the four-point CCCC lead would hold until the 6:18 mark of the second period. Back-to-back triples from the Saints would then allow SCCC to reclaim the lead at 29-25 as part of a 14-0 run as Cloud County would be held scoreless for nearly four minutes of game action. Two free throws from Kennedy Becker would break the drought for the T-Birds and get CCCC back within single digits with the score sitting at a 40-31 halftime deficit for Cloud County.
 
After getting outscored 6-4 in the opening 1:19 of the second half, Cloud County would go on an 8-0 run that would see the deficit cut down to three at 46-43 with 6:46 left in the quarter. Seward County would have a response however by hitting three-straight threes to get back up double-digits at 55-43 just 1:04 later as the T-Birds would not have an answer for the outside shooting of the Saints. In the final five minutes of the third, CCCC would see the deficit balloon to as many as 18 with 1:05 left in the period before scoring three of the final five points to trail 71-54 heading to the fourth.
 
Seeing the Seward County lead grow to a game-high 20 at 76-56 with 8:32 remaining in the game, Cloud County would be determined to make a push and get back into the game by going on a 13-2 run over the next four minutes of action to cut the deficit back down to single-digits at 78-69. Needing to continue to hold off the Saints on the offensive side of things, CCCC would be able to get within eight at 84-76 with 1:59 remaining on a layup from Cox but be unable to get any closer down the stretch with SCCC limiting the T-Birds to just four points the rest of the way to hold on for the win.
 
Free-throw shooting and rebounding would be the two highlights of the night for CCCC as the T-Birds would finish with their second-highest free-throw shooting percentage of the year (73.3 percent) by going 22-of-30 from the charity stripe while also holding a 47-23 advantage in the rebounding column. Cloud County would be hurt however by 27 turnovers and would only get 21 points from their bench players, with the remaining 59 points coming from the starting five.
 
Leading CCCC in scoring would be 20 points from Sopoaga as the freshman would go nine-of-16 from the field in 24 minutes of action. Earning a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds would be Cox while Phillips would join the duo in double-figures with 15 points and grab five rebounds. Seward County would be led by a game-high 35 points from Zayla Tinner as three of SCCC's five starters would reach double-figures.
 
What's Next?
Cloud County will welcome the Beavers of Pratt Community College to Arley Bryant Gymnasium for a 2 PM tip-off on Saturday, December 4th. Pratt will be entering off a full week between games, having the conference bye on Wednesday night while currently holding a 2-6 overall record and 1-3 record in conference play.