CONCORDIA, Kan. – Held scoreless for the first three-plus minutes of the game would lead to an 11-0 deficit for the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team as a late rally would see time run out as part of a 63-58 home defeat to number-25 ranked Barton Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Sunday, November 26th.
A second-straight loss to a nationally ranked foe sees Cloud County fall to 5-3 overall and 1-2 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the 24th-ranked Cougars rebound from a road defeat at Pratt on Tuesday to improve to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the Jayhawk Conference.
The double-digit hole to begin the contest would see CCCC miss each of their first six shots of the game to go along with a pair of turnovers as Barton would take full advantage by making each of their first three shot attempts while collecting the first three rebounds of the contest and starting the game five-of-six from the field to force the T-Birds into an early 30-second timeout with 7:17 left in the first quarter. Following another miss on the offensive end but getting an offensive rebound from
Maimouna Sissoko, Cloud County would get a
Destiny Smith triple to get on the board to start what would eventually become an 8-2 run that would be capped off with a Sissoko layup off a pass from
Sarah Lawless to bring Cloud County back within five at 13-8. Barton would end the quarter by scoring what would be the only two points of the final 1:10 of the opening period with a layup in the final seconds to hold a 15-8 lead heading to the second.
Continuing on with seven straight points to open the second and finish a 9-0 run, BCC would take their largest lead of the game at 22-8 with 8:20 left in the first half before seeing the T-Birds use a
Bailey Burns three to stop the run and start a 6-0 run of their own that would get the deficit back down to eight at 22-14 with just under seven minutes left before halftime. Trading points back and forth for the ensuing five-plus minutes of game time, Cloud County would see the deficit be pushed back to 10 following a pair of Barton free throws before getting Smith's second three of the first half to bring the score back within seven as Burns would finish off the first half with a made jumper in the paint to bring CCCC within five at 28-23 heading into intermission.
Managing to keep the deficit from growing throughout the opening minutes of the second half, Cloud County would get within four at 34-30 in the third quarter before being turned back by a stingy Barton team that would have a response by scoring six of the next eight points to grow their lead back to 40-32 with 3:24 left in the quarter. The advantage for the Cougars would once again reach double-digits at 44-34 with the third-quarter clock ticking under one minute with BCC scoring three of the final five points of the quarter to cap off a 19-13 third-period scoring advantage to go up 47-36 with just 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Threatening to match their largest lead of the game, Barton would use a pair of made free throws to add to their lead once more and go up 13 at 49-36 in the opening minute of the fourth before seeing a made three from Lawless start to get the Cloud County offense going in what was starting to become a must-score situation with time becoming a factor. Trailing 53-41 with 6:56 remaining, the T-Birds would use a
Darcy Lierz trey to get back within nine which is where the deficit would sit at two minutes later before being pushed back out to 11 with 2:38 remaining. Taking over inside the paint, Sissoko would score the next four points of the game and start to push what would become a 9-2 run that would suddenly see an 11-point deficit cut all the way down to four at 59-55 with 43 seconds left. Forcing a turnover and getting the ball back with a chance to cut the deficit down to one possession, CCCC would come up empty with a missed shot leading to a one-and-done possession as the T-Birds would be forced to foul which would lead to a pair of made Barton free throws. After missing a desperation three, Cloud County would get an offensive layup and put back from
Josephine Igherighe to go along with a foul to complete a three-point play to bring the T-Birds back to within three with nine seconds remaining. Unfortunately for CCCC, Barton would be able to inbound the ball and make a full-court pass to an open Tatum Boettjer for a layup that would put the game on ice with one second remaining as Cloud County would see their comeback come up just short of being fully completed.
Shooting just 26.4 percent (19-of-72) from the field, Cloud County would be unable to find any consistency from beyond the arc against a Cougar team that allowed 17 made triples in their last contest as CCCC would shoot just six-of-33 (18.2 percent) from three despite going 14-of-19 (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe. A 54-38 rebounding advantage for the Cougars would be paired with a 37.5 percent (21-of-56) shooting percentage as the BCC would outscore the T-Birds 36-22 in the paint and hold a 10-4 advantage in fast break points.
A relatively balanced effort would see Igherighe lead CCCC with 15 points and nine rebounds while Sissoko would provide 12 points, eight assists, and five steals with the two combining for 27 of the 58 points scored by Cloud County. Joining the two in double-figures would be Burns with 10 points and four rebounds while Lierz would have eight points to lead all bench players in the contest. All 63 points for Barton would be scored by their starting five with a game-high 27 points coming from Qeuzia Bertoni who went 10-of-14 from the free-throw line and grabbed nine rebounds in 36 minutes of play.
What's Next?
Cloud County will face unbeaten Garden City Community College in their next game which will come at home on Wednesday, November 26th beginning at 6 PM. The Broncbusters improved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the KJCCC on Sunday with a 96-69 home win over Pratt but have seen their conference wins come over teams with a combined 1-8 mark in the KJCCC. CCCC has won each of the past 13 regular season matchups with Garden City dating back to the 2016 season.
