CONCORDIA, Kan. – Trailing by just a point by a score of 29-28 heading into halftime, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would be limited to just 14 second-half points and would fall by a final score of 58-42 against Barton Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday, December 7th.
 
A second-straight loss puts Cloud County at 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Cougars improve to 10-2 overall while earning their fourth conference win of the year to move to 4-2.
 
In what was expected to be a low-scoring defensive focused game, scoring opportunities would be limited from the start as the T-Birds would manage to score the first four points of the game while holding Barton scoreless for the opening 4:26 of action. After giving up a layup following a turnover, Cloud County would get an Alize Ruiz triple to go back up two possessions at 7-2 before pushing their lead to six on three separate occasions. Holding a 12-6 lead with 2:52 left in the opening quarter, CCCC would see the Cougars score five straight points to pull within one with just over a minute left in the period before getting a Ruiz offensive rebound and put back and defensive stop. Working the clock down to try and limit another Barton possession, the T-Birds would find an open Kayla Horton for three with just over eight seconds left on the clock as the freshman would drill the shot to allow CCCC to match their six-point lead from earlier in the quarter and hold a 17-11 lead heading into the second.
 
Maintaining their six-point advantage throughout the opening minutes of the second, a Te Araroa Sopoaga steal would lead to a Sarah Lawless layup as CCCC would take their largest lead of the game at 23-15. Trading buckets with Barton, Cloud County would then see the Cougars get a free throw before hitting on their second triple of the game as part of a 12-0 run to put BCC up 29-25 with 1:47 left before halftime. Needing a response, the T-Birds would turn to Ruiz in the paint for a layup that would become a three-point play following a made free throw as the points would wind up being the final of the first half to see CCCC trail 29-28.
 
Using a 9-2 run to open the second half, Barton would quickly add to their lead in the third quarter as Cloud County would be limited to just two free throws in the opening six minutes of the quarter before finally getting a field goal from Ruiz at the 3:40 mark. Trailing 41-32, the T-Birds would see another Barton three push the deficit to double-digits and eventually reach 14 following two free throws to end the quarter to put the score at 49-35 in favor of the Cougars.
 
More offensive struggles from CCCC would see Barton add to their lead as things would get to an 18-point margin following a 7-3 run to start the final period to put BCC up 56-38. Scoring four straight points with a Lawless field goal and pair of Josephine Igherighe free throws, the T-Birds would be held scoreless over the final 1:49 of action as Barton would put one final layup through the hoop to finish off a 16-point win.
 
Held to just four field goals in the second half, Cloud County would shoot just 24.6 percent (16-of-65) from the floor while hitting three-of-27 (11.1 percent) of their three-point attempts while being held to 11 free throws (seven-for-11, 63.6 percent). Turnovers would be one of the biggest differences in the game as Barton would turn 19 CCCC turnovers into 20 points while coughing the ball up just 11 points which would lead to four points for the T-Birds. Cloud County would hold a 51-37 advantage in rebounds and get 11 second-chance points as 22 of their 51 rebounds would come on the offensive end.
 
The lone T-Bird to reach double-figures on the night would be Ruiz who would score a team-best 14 and grab 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the year. The next-highest total by a CCCC player would be an eight-point, eight-rebound performance from Sopoaga while Lawless would add seven in her first start of the year. Barton would get a game-high 15 points from Brennan Kirchhoff while Jenny Nkem Womsi would grab 17 rebounds to go along with an eight-point offensive effort.
 
What's Next?
For the second time this season, Cloud County is set to host a nationally-ranked opponent as the number-23 ranked Butler Grizzlies will make their way to Concordia for a 2 PM contest on Saturday, December 10th. Both the T-Birds and Grizzlies entered Wednesday night with a share of the KJCCC lead but dropped games as BCC fell by a score of 69-63 at home to number-21-ranked Dodge City.