Women's Basketball | 12/14/2024 8:10:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College women's basketball team fell 77-53 to the unbeaten Hutchinson Blue Dragons on Saturday, December 14 in the team's final game before the holiday break.

The T-Birds fall to 10-3 overall and 5-3 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference play with the loss. Cloud County will not play its next game until next month when they go to Garden City Community College on Saturday, January 4.

Freshman guard Bre Frazier scored the first four points of the game for Cloud County to tie the contest at 4-4 early. Hutchinson, the defending NJCAA Division I national champions, quickly scored the next eight points to take control. The top defensive team in the conference, the Blue Dragons held Cloud County to 36.4 percent shooting and outrebounded the T-Birds by a 12-4 margin in the first quarter. Hutchinson captured its first double-digit advantage on a pair of free-throws by freshman guard Dylan Alexander with just under a minute to go, giving the Blue Dragons an 11-point lead at 23-12 entering the second quarter.

Cloud County chipped away at Hutchinson's lead early in the second stanza, pulling back to within nine points with 7:30 remaining following a tip-in by freshman forward Lilliana Petersen and a basket in the paint by freshman forward Shea Wurtz. A three-pointer by freshman guard Katie Duncan pushed Hutchinson's lead back to double-digits. The Blue Dragons extended their lead out to 18 points on a three-pointer by sophomore forward Hailey Jackson to lead 39-21 at the half.

Hutchinson ended the first-half shooting 56.0 percent from the field and 75.0 percent from behind the arc, with Jackson going 4-of-4 from long-range to lead the way with 14 points.

The Blue Dragons opened the second-half on a 12-4 run, extending their lead to 26 points on a fast break layup by Jackson midway through the third quarter. Cloud County fought back with a 10-2 run of their own, highlighted by eight points from freshman forward Talasia Thomas, to trail by 18 at 53-35. Jackson later connected on 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, while Alexander scored on a layup in the final minute to push Hutchinson's lead back out to 21 points at 56-35 headed to the fourth.

Four straight points by Frazier closed the gap to 16 points with 4:39 to go. The T-Birds were then held without a field-goal the rest of the way.

Cloud County shot 31.4 percent from the field, including 2-of-15 (13.4 percent) from three-point range. Hutchinson drilled eight shots from deep to shoot 61.5 percent from behind the arc and 52.7 percent from the floor.

The Blue Dragons outrebounded the T-Birds 42-24, finishing the game with a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points and a 42-22 advantage in points in the paint.

Jackson led the way for Hutchinson with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go with a team-high 10 rebounds. Alexander added 18 points, while sophomore guard Jada Pleasant ended up with 11 points and four assists.

Cloud County was led by Thomas who had 16 points and four rebounds. Frazier joined her in double-figures with 14 points and three rebounds. Wurtz played over 34 minutes off the bench, posting 10 points and a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore guard TiAna Davis had seven points. Petersen added four points, while freshman guard DaNae Crosby finished with one point and a team-high six assists.

The T-Birds will face the Garden City Broncbusters (7-5, 4-3) in their first game back from the holiday break on Saturday, January 4. Tipoff is set for 2 pm in Conestoga Arena.