CONCORDIA, Kan. – A recent trend of playing nationally-ranked teams tight for the first 30-plus minutes of the game would continue for the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team as the T-Birds would trim a 13-point deficit to start the fourth quarter against number-11 Dodge City Community College down to three with 6:39 remaining before being held to just seven points the rest of the way to drop a 74-59 decision inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday, February 15th.
Ending a stretch of three games against nationally ranked opponents over the past 10 days, Cloud County falls to 14-12 overall and 9-11 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference following the defeat while the visiting Conquistadors extend their winning streak to 17 straight games while improving to 24-2 overall and 19-1 in the KJCCC.
Facing a DC3 team that came into the game with an average margin of victory of over 20 points, Cloud County would never let the Conquistadors take control in the first half while trading the lead six times in the opening 20 minutes of the game. Despite being held without a made field goal for the first 5:06 of the first quarter, CCCC would find their way to the free throw line to get into the scoring column, hitting on each of their six attempts from the charity stripe in the first period. Trailing 6-4 with 6:29 left in the opening quarter, a pair of
Te Araroa Sopoaga free throws would tie things at 6-6 and start what would become a 7-2 T-Bird run to give Cloud County their first lead of the game at 11-8. Following a made
Kayla Horton three that would put CCCC up on the Conquistadors, Dodge City would manage to hold Cloud County scoreless for the rest of the quarter while using a 7-0 run to take a 15-11 lead at the end of the opening period.
Layups from
Alize Ruiz and
Josephine Igherighe to start the second 10-minute period would allow CCCC to get back even at 15-15 just 1:39 into the second quarter as Cloud County would eventually reclaim the lead on a
Lilly Smith three. The T-Birds would then see a DC3 free throw tie things momentarily as the following five points would be scored by Cloud County with Sopoaga getting a made layup and deep three to give CCCC their largest lead of the game at 23-18. A quick 5-0 spurt from Dodge City would once again tie things at 23-23 before seeing both teams trade baskets to have another tie at 25-25. Following the tie at 25-all, DC3 would get a transition layup before turning a T-Bird turnover into another two points to spark a 7-0 run that would put the Conquistadors up three possessions before a layup to end the half by Cloud County to put the score at 32-27 in favor of Dodge City to end the first half.
An 8-2 run by Cloud County to begin the third quarter of action would allow CCCC to turn a five-point halftime deficit into a one-point T-Bird lead as the run would be capped off by a pair of
Jessi Brummett free throws. With the T-Birds continuing to make it a priority to get to the charity stripe, CCCC would continue to see a large portion of their scoring in the third come from the free-throw line to help offset a two-of-16 field-goal performance in the quarter. Despite making 11 free throws in the period, Cloud County would see Dodge city outscore the T-Birds by a 20-15 margin in the period to add to their halftime lead and take their first double-digit lead of the contest at 52-42 with just 10 minutes of game time remaining.
After giving up a made Dodge City triple to begin the final period of action, Cloud County would go on a 10-0 run to get the home crowd back into the game and flip momentum in favor of the T-Birds with just under seven minutes left in the contest. The run would be capped off by Sopoaga's second made three of the contest as CCCC would still very much be in the game. Responding with five straight points as part of a larger 10-2 run to go back up double-digits, Dodge city would begin to pull away with just under three minutes remaining as the T-Birds would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way while being outscored by DC3 19-7 after getting within three.
Outside of the second quarter where Cloud County would make seven field goals and two of their four made threes in the game, the T-Birds would be held to just 10 made field goals in the other three quarters while finishing with a 27.4 percent (17-of-62) field goal percentage and four-of-19 (21.1 percent) outing from beyond the arc. Getting to the free throw line 28 times, Cloud County would convert 21 attempts for a 75 percent free throw percentage and outrebound Dodge City 46-34 in the game. The Conquistadors would make up for the rebounding deficit by outscoring CCCC 21-14 in points off turnovers while also shooting 45.8 percent (27-of-59) from the field.
Leading all players in the game in scoring would be Sopoaga with an 18-point, seven-rebound performance while Ruiz would record her 14th double-double of the year with 16 points and 16 rebounds. No other T-Bird would score more than eight with the CCCC starting five recording 55 of Cloud County's 59 points in the game. Dodge City would be led by a team-best 17 points from Jada Burton who also recorded four assists.
What's Next?
Cloud County will host Coffeyville Community College for the 2023 homecoming and T-Bird athletics hall of fame game on Saturday, February 18th at 2 PM. Coffeyville was off on Wednesday night, having last played on February 11th when they dropped a 61-53 decision at Independence to fall to 15-11 overall and 11-9 in the KJCCC. The Red Ravens will enter Saturday having lost four consecutive games and five of their past six dating back to January 25th.
