Cloud County Women's Basketball Team Moves to 4-0 Following 67-49 Home Win Over McCook

After a low-scoring defensive opening half of basketball, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would turn up the tempo in the third quarter to turn a two-point halftime lead into a 20-point advantage en route to a 67-49 home win over McCook Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium in Concordia, Kansas on Thursday, November 10th.

Four games into the season, Cloud County remains unbeaten on the year by improving to 4-0 for their first four-game winning streak to start a season since the 2017-18 season when the T-Birds started 5-0. McCook drops their second-consecutive game to a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference opponent and is now 1-4 overall with the defeat.

With both teams struggling from the floor in the opening quarter of action, the T-Birds would be able to open a 6-2 lead just over three minutes into the game as freshman Maimouna Sissoko would be responsible for all six CCCC points. The Cloud County lead would remain at two possessions for much of the net three-plus minutes of action with neither team taking advantage of opportunities on the offensive end which would lead to an 11-6 T-Bird lead with 3:28 remaining in the opening period. Sissoko would continue a strong opening quarter by hitting another jump shot in the paint to give CCCC their largest lead of the opening period at 13-6 before seeing the T-Birds go scoreless the rest of the quarter which would allow McCook to get back within three after scoring the final four points in the opening 10 minutes of play.

More offensive woes for both squads in the second would see just a total of five points scored in the opening 4:36 of the second quarter, with the T-Birds scoring all five points to take an eight-point lead at 18-10. After holding MCC scoreless for the first 4:36 of play in the quarter, the Indians would finally get on the board with a free throw before seeing Lilly Smith connect on her first three of the evening to give the T-Birds their first double-digit lead of the game at 21-11. Just like in the first period, however, CCCC would endure another scoring drought that would allow McCook to cut into the lead as the T-Birds would muster just one free throw from Alize Ruiz in the final five minutes of the first half to outscore Cloud County 9-1 and get back within two at 22-20 at halftime.

A layup for MCC to open the second half would tie things up for the first time since it was 2-2 in the opening minutes of the game, but only momentarily as Cloud County would respond with a Te Araroa Sopoaga layup that would spark a 15-0 run over the ensuing 4:12 of action. A bucket for McCook would stop the run but see the T-Birds continue to add their lead as an 8-2 run to end the third quarter would give CCCC a 20-point advantage heading to the fourth thanks in part to a 24-6 score in favor of Cloud County in the quarter.

Finally able to work with a sizeable lead, the T-Birds would continue to add to their lead in the opening minutes of the fourth to go up by their largest margin of the evening following a Tereia Steward open three to make it a 56-32 game with just over six minutes remaining. Complacency would then set in for the T-Birds as McCook would manage to score the next nine points to get back within 16 as part of a 15-3 run that would nearly get the Indians back within single digits. Having seen their once 24-point lead cut all the way to just 13, the T-Birds would hit a back-breaking three late in the shot clock courtesy of Smith with just 1:48 remaining in the game in what would all but put the game out of reach. The T-Birds would limit MCC to just one free throw the rest of the way while adding one final triple from Makayla Twyman that would put a cap on an 18-point victory to put the season scoring mark at 290-187 in favor of CCCC.

45 of Cloud County's 67 points in the contest would come in the second half of play as the T-Birds would overcome a 17.1 percent six-of-35) shooting percentage in the opening half to finish the game 21-of-65 (32.3 percent) from the field while going 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) from the charity stripe. Outscoring McCook 28-10 in points off turnovers, CCCC would also hold an 11-5 advantage in second-chance points and outrebound the Indians 44-35 with 19 of their 44 rebounds coming on the offensive end.

A balanced scoring effort would see Sissoko finish with a team-best 15 points and 15 rebounds for her first double-double of the year while Smith would score 13 points and add two assists. Other top performances for the T-Birds would include a nine-rebound, eight-point outing from Sopoaga and a nine-point, six-rebound effort from Ruiz. McCook would be led by a team-high 17 points off the bench from Marta Moya Perez who would hit on six-of-11 shots from the field and also grab five rebounds in the loss.

What's Next?
For the fourth time in the past five seasons, Cloud County will square off with Northeast Community College with the 2022-23 rendition coming on the road at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk, Nebraska on Saturday, November 12th. Tip-off against the Hawks is set for 2 PM, as both teams will enter the game with an undefeated record as Northeast is a perfect 3-0 following an 83-51 home win this past Tuesday against Central Community College. In last year's meeting in Concordia, CCCC defeated NECC by a final score of 78-48.