Cloud County Women Score 77-57 Home Win Over Independence in Return from Holiday Break
Despite just seven available players in their first game back from a three-plus week holiday break, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would lead for nearly 39 minutes of game action and outscore visiting Independence 42-22 in points in the paint to earn a 77-57 home win inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Wednesday, January 3rd.
Running their home record this season to 7-2, Cloud County improves to 8-5 overall with the win and 4-4 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference with one-third of the KJCCC schedule complete. Independence falls to 8-5 overall and now holds a 2-5 record in league play after having a three-game winning streak snapped.
A strong start by CCCC saw the T-Birds score each of the first six points of the game while holding ICC scoreless for the first 3:38 of action as 14 of the first 16 points were scored by Cloud County. The big lead for the T-Birds came courtesy of four different players providing offense in the quarter despite being limited to just four points over the final 2:55 of the opening 10 minutes. With the slowed offensive pace by CCCC, Independence took full advantage by going on an 11-2 run and ending the quarter by scoring 14 of the final 18 points to cut a 12-point deficit down to two at 18-16 heading into the second.
Following four quick points by Cloud County, the Pirates went on a 7-2 run to bring the score within one at 24-23 as the T-Birds managed to respond with a 6-0 spurt of their own to get the lead back out to seven at 30-23 with 6:08 left before halftime. Three-point shooting by ICC managed to keep things close throughout the rest of the first half as the Pirates hit back-to-back triples to get within one twice more before grabbing a 33-32 lead on a pair of Sunishka Kartik free throws to take their lone lead of the game. After an empty possession by Cloud County, the T-Birds used a Darcy Lierz steal and fastbreak layup to go back up by a point followed by a corner three Destiny Smith to push the advantage back to two possessions as CCCC ended the second by scoring eight of the final 10 points to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room at the intermission break.
Giving up a made bucket on the opening possession of the second half, Cloud County responded by scoring six quick points in the ensuing 1:23 of game time to force Independence to call a quick timeout after seeing the lead for CCCC grow to nine at 46-37. Continuing to grow their advantage, Cloud County used a made bucket from Smith before a Maimouna Sissoko trey from the top of the key to break things open and go up 51-37 with 7:21 left in the third quarter after hitting each of their first four shots from the field in the half. Independence managed to get back within 10 following a scoring drought of 3:40 for the T-Birds but allowed CCCC to extend the lead back out to 14 with back-to-back buckets as the lead eventually grew to 15 at 59-44 with 15 seconds left in the quarter.
Holding a 59-47 lead going into the fourth, Cloud County was quick to put the game out of reach as nine points in the first 1:42 of the final frame saw the 12-point advantage grow to a game-high 21 at 68-47 as the T-Birds continued their game trend of starting each quarter with a strong scoring spurt. Three made field goals by Independence over the next three minutes of play saw the Pirates threaten to cut into the lead as the advantage for CCCC dropped to 15 at 68-53, but both time and foul trouble became an issue for ICC with one of their five starters having already fouled out of the contest. A 7-2 Cloud County run managed to ensure that no potential comeback occurred as the game got no closer down the stretch with the T-Birds earning their fourth win of the season by at least 20 points.
Holding Independence to a 27.8 percent (20-of-72) outing for the game, Cloud County shot 38.7 percent (29-of-75) from the floor and connected on 16-of-20 (80.0 percent) of their free throw attempts to offset a three-of-16 (18.8 percent) effort from beyond the arc. Independence relied on shooting from beyond the arc by going eight-for-27 (29.6 percent) from three and nine-of-15 (60.0 percent) from the charity stripe while holding a 51-48 advantage in rebounds. The T-Birds outscored the Pirates 25-14 in points off turnovers and also held a 16-8 advantage in fast break points while both teams had six second-chance points.
The trio of Igherighe, Sissoko, and Smith accounted for 55 of Cloud County's 77 points with Igherighe scoring a game-high 21 points on eight-of-12 shooting from the field. Sissoko added 18 points and had a game-high 15 rebounds in addition to four assists while Smith scored a career-high 16 points and had five rebounds. Independence was led by a team-high 15 from Jasirae Vick as four players for the Pirates finished in double-figures.
What's Next?
Cloud County will play their first road game of the 2024 portion of their schedule when they trek to Pratt for a 2 PM contest with the Beavers on Saturday, January 6th. Pratt has not played since a 75-69 defeat to Independence on December 9th and sports a 7-5 overall record with a 2-5 mark in the KJCCC.