Women's Basketball | 11/25/2025 11:08:00 PM

Box Score Sophomore forward Leila Washington scored 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead five T-Birds in double-figures, but it was not enough as the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team was on the losing end of an 86-81 score at Cowley College in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) play on Tuesday, November 25.

Freshman guard Aniyah Burney led the Cowley College Tigers with 27 points, while freshman guard Amina Allen and freshman forward Megan Simon chipped in 20 points each. Sophomore forward Mallory Jackson also reached double-figures with 11 points.

Cloud County (4-4, 0-3 KJCCC) had a strong start to the contest, jumping out to an early double-digit lead at 13-3 following a jumper by freshman guard Amanda Makela with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter. Cowley College responded with a quick 6-2 run to cut Cloud County's lead to six points, but the T-Birds countered with a 5-0 spurt of their own, capped by a basket from freshman guard Sadie Cornell, to push its lead back to 10 points at 20-10 with 1:45 to go in the opening frame. The Tigers bounced back with an 8-2 run to cut Cloud County's lead to four points, 22-18, entering the second quarter.

A finish in the paint by Washington at the 6:00 mark of the second period gave the T-Birds their biggest advantage of the ballgame at 35-24. Cowley College once again found an answer, scoring the next 15 points, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers by Jackson and Allen, to pull ahead at 39-35 with 2:23 remaining in the first-half. The game quickly became a back-and-forth affair, with the T-Birds entering the locker room ahead by one point at 43-42.

Cloud County opened the third quarter with a three-pointer by freshman guard Marilyn Soeken. The T-Birds led by as many as six points in the early stages of the second-half, but Cowley College stormed back, ending the third quarter on an 8-2 run to climb in front by one point at 62-61 headed to the fourth quarter.

The T-Birds recaptured the lead on a layup in the lane by Washington to begin the final frame, but the field-goal would mark the final lead for Cloud County in the ballgame. Cowley College put together an extended 16-0 scoring run to lead 78-63 with 6:09 to play. The T-Birds battled back, cutting the deficit to four points on a pair of free-throws by Soeken with just under a minute remaining, but that's as close as Cloud County would get, falling to the Tigers by the final score of 86-81.

For the contest, Cloud County shot 29-of-69 (42.0 percent) from the floor, 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from three-point range, and 17-of-20 (85.0 percent) from the free-throw line, while committing 17 turnovers on the night.

Washington led the team with 19 points, one point shy of her season-high. Freshman forward Sofija Todorovic finished with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Shea Wurtz tallied her third double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Camiah Muldrow chipped in 10 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Makela added 10 points with two made three-pointers and a team-high four assists, while Soeken ended up with nine points, three rebounds and a team-high three steals.

Cowley College shot 29-of-62 (46.8 percent) from the floor, 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from deep, and 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) from the foul line. Cowley's bench outscored the T-Birds, 51-21.

Cloud County will return home on Saturday, November 29 to host No. 1 Dodge City Community College (7-0, 2-0 KJCCC) in conference action. Game time is set for 2 pm.