CONCORDIA, Kan. – Down by four with 1:52 remaining in the first half, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would be unable to close the gap any further against visiting Cowley Community College in an 81-74 loss inside of Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Saturday, March 13th.

Falling back to 7-7 overall, Cloud County is now 6-7 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Tigers improved to 10-6 overall on the year and 8-6 in the KJCCC.

A low scoring start to the game would see both teams struggle offensively from the field as only three field goals would be made in the opening five minutes of the contest. Cowley would then start to knock down open shots to open up a 7-3 lead on the T-Birds before seeing Rori Cox and Sydni Keys connect on three-point attempts to offset a layup and pair of Tiger free throws to put the score at 11-9 with 3:31 remaining in the opening period. A Le'Yanna McGinnis steal in the back court would then allow for Keys to drive the lane for a layup to tie things at 11-11 with just over a minute remaining in the quarter before seeing Cowley end the opening period with the final six points to grab a 17-11 lead after 10 minutes of action.

Points at the free throw line would then be the thing to keep the T-Birds within striking distance as CCCC would be held without a field goal throughout the opening 3:36 of the second quarter. During the span, Cowley would outscore Cloud County 7-4 to take a 24-15 lead as the Tigers would take their largest lead of the first half just minutes later a Kalyne Daniels layup with 4:38 remaining before halftime (34-18 Cowley). The T-Birds would manage to battle their way back by scoring 15 of the next 18 points in the span of 2:46 to close within two possessions at 37-33, but Cowley would again have a response by closing out the half on a 7-2 run as McGinnis would stop the bleeding with a buzzer beater layup to make it a 44-35 deficit at the break.

A 6-2 run to open the third quarter from Cloud County would appear to give the T-Birds some momentum in the opening minutes of the second half as CCCC would close the gap back down to five at 46-41, but the Tigers would not be phased and go on to outscore Cloud County 9-1 in the next three minutes of action to go back up double-digits. The run would continue for Cowley with 12 of the next 14 points to allow the Tigers to take their largest lead of the contest at 67-44 with 2:44 remaining in the third as the T-Birds would have no answer for a potent Cowley attack.

Despite the deficit, Cloud County would manage to score 10 of the final 13 points of the quarter to try and close the gap and make it a 70-54 deficit heading into the final 10 minutes of the game. The fourth quarter would then see Cowley manage to trade two-point buckets from Cloud County with three point attempts of their own as the T-Birds would see the deficit grow to 20 before a 10-0 CCCC run would cut the deficit in half with 1:57 remaining. Two more Cowley triples would ultimately be the final dagger however as Cloud County would be unable to close the gap any further down the stretch.  

Finishing just below a season-best shooting performance, CCCC would go 26-of-55 (47.3 percent) from the field and hold a 44-30 advantage over Cowley in points in the paint. Turnovers would be an issue for Cloud County however as the Tigers would turn 26 T-Bird turnovers into 37 points while also getting 27 fast-break points in the contest.

Netting nearly half of Cloud County's 71-point total, McGinnis would finish the game 10-of-16 from the field while also going 10-of-17 from the free throw line to finish with 30 points while also grabbing 15 rebounds and adding four steals. Boakye would also set a career-high on Saturday by scoring 15 points and adding four steals and three assists in 35 minutes of action.

What's Next?
The final stretch of the season will see the T-Birds play seven games in just 17 days beginning on Monday, March 15th as CCCC will travel to El Dorado, Kansas for a second matchup this season with Butler Community College. The Grizzlies will enter Monday's 5:30 PM tip-off coming off their first loss of the season after a 69-61 home defeat to Coffeyville on Saturday.