Women's Basketball | 11/3/2024 9:03:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College women's basketball team opened the 2024-2025 season leading wire-to-wire in a convincing 85-64 home win over Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa on Sunday, November 3.

Ten different players scored for the T-Birds, who shot 40.8 percent from the floor as a team, combining for 40 points in the paint and a staggering 34 points off turnovers. Cloud County forced Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa into 32 turnovers on the day.

The T-Birds raced out to a 16 point lead seven minutes into the ballgame after the Mavericks committed 14 first quarter turnovers. Freshman guard Bre Frazier and freshman forward Talasia Thomas each scored eight points in the opening frame, with Frazier connecting on 6-of-7 shots from the free-throw line, to give the T-Birds a 24-12 advantage headed to the second quarter.

Sophomore Darcy Lierz poured in two three-pointers off the bench in the second quarter, sophomore transfer TiAna Davis added five points in the period, and the T-Birds received great production off the bench from DaNae Crosby, Meilin Guo and Shea Wurtz, to grab its biggest advantage of the half at 47-25 entering the break.

The bench for Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa had a big night, scoring 50 of the team's 64 total points. Freshman forward Leila Washington led the charge, posting 11 of her team-high 20 points in the opening half after connecting on 4-of-5 shots from the floor.

The Mavericks had a hot-hand throughout the third quarter, shooting 7-of-11 from the field, including going 2-of-3 from behind the arc. But their inability to care for the basketball continued to bite them. The T-Birds added another eight points off turnovers in the third frame on their way to building out their largest lead of the game of 28 points with just under two minutes remaining in the period. 

Lierz drilled another three-pointer in the third quarter. She ended up 3-of-5 from behind the arc and finished as the only T-Bird with a made three-pointer on the day. Cloud County found other ways to cash in at the rim, though, collecting 16 points in the paint in the third quarter and ending the period shooting 55.6 percent from the field to lead 70-48 going into the fourth.

Cloud County was able to close things out at the free-throw line in the final frame, making 7-of-10 shots from the charity stripe. The T-Birds finished the night 20-of-30 from the line for 66.7 percent.

Frazier led the T-Birds in scoring with 20 points, going 12-of-15 from the foul line. She also added four rebounds and four assists.

Thomas had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. She added five rebounds and five steals.

Davis joined them in double-figures with 11 points, four rebounds and a team-high six assists.

Lierz had nine points, all of which came from downtown. Wurtz finished with eight points and eight rebounds. Crosby also added eight points. Freshman Lilliana Petersen had 6 points, sophomore Kiley Smich chipped in five, Guo added four points and freshman Lauren Marron ended up with two.

Cloud County is back at home on Thursday, November 7 at 6 pm when they host Concordia University JV.