Women's Basketball | 11/12/2024 11:37:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College women's basketball team held visiting Kansas City Kansas Community College to 20 points in the second half, including five over the game's final ten minutes, in a 75-50 home win on Tuesday, November 12 inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium.

The T-Birds led the Blue Devils by 15 at the halftime break and then outscored them by ten points in the second half to hand previously unbeaten Kansas City Kansas its first loss of the season. The Blue Devils had entered Tuesday night's contest 4-0 on the season and ranked No. 14 in NJCAA Division II.

Cloud County built its first half lead behind the powerful post presence of freshmen Shea Wurtz and Talasia Thomas. Wurtz had 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 makes from the free throw line in the first half, while Thomas was also in double-figures with 10 points and three rebounds. Cloud County's pressure defense also harassed the Blue Devils into committing 19 turnovers in the opening half of play. Kansas City Kansas took better care of the ball in the second half and tried to make an early run before back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore transfer TiAna Davis put the T-Birds ahead again by 15 points, 57-42, with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. From there, Cloud County limited the Blue Devils to just eight points over the next 14 minutes, en route to a dominating 75-50 victory.

Wurtz led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The freshman from Clifton, Kansas fell two rebounds shy of a double-double.

Thomas and Davis were the other two T-Birds in double-figures with 12 points apiece. Thomas collected seven rebounds, while Davis drilled three shots from behind the arc.

Sophomore Meilin Guo and freshman Lilliana Petersen each had seven points, while freshman DaNae Crosby totaled five points and six rebounds. Cloud County outrebounded the Blue Devils by a 41-28 margin.

Freshman Bre Frazier was limited to just three points but led the team with five assists.

The T-Birds had an off-night offensively. The overall shooting percentage was 33.4 percent (24-of-72), and the team was just 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from three-point range. The team turned its focus on attacking the paint and earning trips to the foul line. Cloud County made 23-of-34 (67.6 percent) attempts from the free-throw line for the game, getting off eleven more shots from the line than their opponents.

Kansas City Kansas was led by sophomore Samaire Slusarek. Slusarek had 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 7-of-8 from the foul line before fouling out. She was the only Blue Devils player in double-figures.

With the win, Cloud County has improved to 4-0 on the season. The T-Birds have one final non-conference game scheduled when they host Bethany College JV for a 6 pm tip Thursday, November 14 in Arley Bryant Gymnasium. Last year, the T-Birds defeated the Swedes, 76-68, on November 13, 2023.