Cloud County Women Come Up Short in 75-66 Loss at #15 Dodge City

A five-plus minute scoring drought that would extend from the final two minutes of the first half into the first three minutes of the second half would see the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team get outscored 14-0 during the stretch as the T-Birds would see a two-point lead turn into a double-digit deficit that they could never recover from as part of a 75-66 road loss inside the Student Activities Center in Dodge City, Kansas on Saturday, December 2nd.

A fifth-straight loss to the Conquistadors sends Cloud County to a 6-4 overall record along with a 2-3 mark in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while Dodge City improves to 10-1 overall and 4-1 in the KJCCC with their lone blemish coming as a two-point defeat to Hutchinson in their conference opening game.

Holding their own through the opening three-and-a-half minutes of play to match Dodge City with five points each, the T-Birds would grab a 6-5 lead on the back end of a pair of Josephine Igherighe free throws before seeing DC3 connect on their second three of the opening period to take the lead as six different lead changes would be seen in the opening 10 minutes. After an Igherighe layup that would tie things back up at 8-8, Cloud County would use a Maimouna Sissoko shot in the paint to reclaim the lead at 10-8 with the back-and-forth continuing for the final 3:24 of the quarter to eventually see things tied up at 17-17 after both teams hit open treys in the final 31 seconds.

Dodge City would continue their three-point shooting in the early minutes of the second quarter as another triple from the Conquistadors would start a 5-0 spurt to begin the period for DC3 that would force Cloud County to play from behind for much of the period. Clawing their way back to within one on a Sissoko three-point play, CCCC would see Dodge City quickly push their lead back to five with back-to-back layups before getting a Destiny Smith triple to stop the momentum that had been building in favor of the Conquistadors. Ties at 28-28 and again at 29-29 would be followed by a pair of Sissoko free throws to give Cloud County the lead at 31-29 with 2:28 left before halftime as the lead would be erased and turn into a four-point deficit following a 6-0 run by DC3 to end the quarter.

The deficit for Cloud County would continue to grow after two scoreless minutes to start the second half as a three-point play by Dodge City would start an 8-0 for the Conquistadors to put CCCC into a 43-31 deficit with 7:13 left in the third quarter. Stopping the run with a made three by Bailey Burns, the T-Birds would continue to battle and do whatever they could to keep the lead from growing only to see three consecutive Dodge City offensive possessions result in made threes to give the Conquistadors their largest lead of the game at 56-38 with 2:58 left in the quarter. Only two points would be had by either team the rest of the period as a Sissoko jumper would end another Dodge City run and give CCCC something to build off while trailing 58-42 going into the final 10 minutes of play.

Looking to dig out of the double-digit hole, Cloud County would open the fourth by getting a made triple from Burns that would be followed by an an Igherighe bucket as the first 10 points of the quarter would be scored the T-Birds to suddenly get back within six at 58-52 with 7:18 remaining. After seeing the run end by a made shot by Dodge City, Cloud County would get a Smith layup to get within six once again as CCCC would still have a chance to try and close the gap. A talented Conquistador squad playing at home however would continue to find open spots in the Cloud County defense to push their lead back out to double-digits with 6:03 remaining as the score for CCCC would get no closer than eight the rest of the way and settling nine.

Statistically, the game would be relatively even with the biggest two differences coming from the three-point line and free-throw line with Dodge City outscoring Cloud County 27-18 from beyond the arc and 20-14 at the charity stripe. CCCC would finish with a higher shooting percentage (23-of-66, 34.8 percent) than Dodge City (23-of-76, 30.3 percent) and outscore the Conquistadors 22-16 in points off turnovers while getting outscored 21-2 in bench points. DC3 would edge CCCC 47-44 in rebounding and 10-9 in second-chance points.

The trio of Sissoko, Burns, and Smith would account for 54 of Cloud County's 66 points in the game with Sissoko finishing with game-highs of 27 points and 18 rebounds. The game marked the fourth time that the sophomore finished the game with at least 15 rebounds while setting a new career-high in points. Burns had 17 points to go along with six rebounds while the 10 points by Smith would be two shy of her career-best mark with Igherighe adding eight points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Dodge City was led by a team-high 17-point effort from Parris Atkins.  

What's Next?
The final home game before the holiday break for Cloud County will come on Wednesday, December 6th when the T-Birds play host to the number-14 nationally ranked Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons at 6 PM. HCC is off to a perfect 9-0 start and 3-0 mark in the KJCCC ahead of a home game on Saturday evening against Pratt Community College while having just one game decided by single-digits. The theme for the game will be a blackout, with fans encouraged to wear black and cheer on the T-Birds against the Blue Dragons with special prices of $1 available on both hot dogs and popcorn throughout the evening. A guaranteed $500 giveaway will also occur during halftime of the men's game during the evening and will be open to all fans in attendance.