Women's Basketball | 1/28/2026 11:37:00 PM

Box Score In a back-and-forth contest that featured nine lead changes and six ties, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team closed strong at home to defeat Cowley College, 69-65, on Wednesday, January 28 at Arley Bryant Gymnasium.

Cloud County bounced back after a pair of tough road losses to improve to 9-11 overall and 5-10 in Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) play.

Sophomore guard Lauren Marron scored a career-high 19 points on 6-of-9 overall shooting and 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Marron was also a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.

Sophomore forward Leila Washington added 19 points on 7-of-13 from the field with two made three-pointers. Washington also pulled down eight rebounds.

Freshman guard Amanda Makela finished with 15 points, with 10 points coming in the fourth quarter. Makela also dished four assists.

Cowley College jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before Cloud County went on a 19-7 run, capturing an eight point lead on a triple from Marron with 1:52 remaining in the first quarter. Cloud County created even more separation by pushing the lead to ten points at 25-15 at the end of the first period.

Cloud County's offense stayed consistent into the second quarter, shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from behind the arc as the T-Birds pushed the lead to as many as 18 points. Cloud County held a 15 point lead at the break.

Cowley College found its footing in the third quarter, forcing the T-Birds into nine turnovers and holding Cloud County to under 20 percent shooting from the field for the period. The Tigers outscored the T-Birds 21-8 in the third frame, cutting Cloud County's lead down to two points at 50-48 entering the fourth quarter.

The contest remained tight down the stretch, with the margin not exceeding three points for either team over the first nine minutes of the final quarter. Cloud County took its final lead on a layup and a free-throw by freshman guard Marilyn Soeken with 36 seconds remaining. Makela connected on four consecutive foul shots, while Marron scored on a fast-break in the closing seconds to extend Cloud County's lead to seven with six seconds left. Cowley freshman guard Aniyah Burney scored on a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving Cloud County the four-point victory.

Soeken finished with six points and a season-high 10 rebounds. Freshman forward Sofija Todorovic also had six points. Sophomore forward Shea Wurtz ended up with three points and a team-high 12 rebounds, eight of them collected on the offensive end of the floor. Freshman guard Sadie Cornell finished with one point.

Cloud County committed 28 turnovers in the win, but made up for it on the glass, outrebounding Cowley College 49-26. The T-Birds led the Tigers 19-8 in second-chance points.

The T-Birds knocked down 19-of-57 (33.3 percent) from the floor, 9-of-30 (30.0 percent) from three-point range, and 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) from the free-throw line. The 22 made free-throws marked the team's third most made foul shots of the season.

Cloud County continues KJCCC play on Saturday, January 31 when they make the trek to Dodge City, Kansas to face No. 3 Dodge City Community College at 1 pm. The game will be broadcast by ConqTV.