Women's Basketball | 2/15/2025 11:21:00 PM

Box Score The Cloud County Community College women's basketball team dropped a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference game on the road to No. 8 Hutchinson, 71-66, on Saturday, February 15.

The T-Birds are now 15-9 overall and 10-9 in the conference, while the Blue Dragons improve to 23-2 and 17-2 in KJCCC action.

Cloud County led 19-18 at the end of the first quarter after ending the period on an 11-2 run that featured six points from freshman forward Talasia Thomas along with a three-pointer by freshman forward Lilliana Petersen and a fast-break layup by freshman forward Meilin Guo.

The second quarter proved pivotal to the outcome of the game as Hutchinson outscored the T-Birds 18-11 in the quarter, led by nine points in the second frame by sophomore forward Hailey Jackson. The Blue Dragons limited Cloud County to 26.7 percent shooting and forced five turnovers in the second stanza. Hutchinson led by as many as eight points before taking a 36-30 lead into the locker room.

A three-pointer by sophomore guard Landon Forbes followed by a steal by Forbes and a layup by sophomore guard Jada Pleasant gave the Blue Dragons a double-digit advantage at 41-30 less than a minute into the second-half. Hutchinson extended its lead to 14 points before Cloud County closed out the third quarter on a 10-3 run, highlighted by three-pointers from freshman forward Shea Wurtz and sophomore guard Kiley Smich. Wurtz had seven points on 3-of-3 field goals in the third frame and the T-Birds trailed 55-48 heading into the final quarter of play.

Wurtz buried another trey early in the fourth quarter, while back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore guard TiAna Davis and Petersen enabled the T-Birds to trim Hutchinson's lead down to two points at 63-61 with 4:08 to play. Cloud County was then held to just one field goal over the game's final four minutes. Forbes soon added her third three-pointer of the second-half while Jackson added three points of her own in the closing minute to help the Blue Dragons stave off the comeback attempt by Cloud County.

Jackson led all scorers with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Forbes added 15 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three steals, while Pleasant was also in double-digits with 11 points.

Four players reached double-figures for Cloud County. Davis registered 16 points, six assists and two steals. Wurtz also had 16 points and six rebounds. Petersen contributed 13 points and four rebounds, while Thomas had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Smich and freshman guard DaNae Crosby each scored four points, with Crosby also adding six rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Cloud County returns home to host No. 17 Coffeyville Community College in another Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference game on Monday, February 17. The game starts at 1 pm in Arley Bryant Gymnasium.