Grizzlies knock off CCCC women, 82-58

EL DORADO — The Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds had their four-game winning streak snapped with an 82-58 Jayhawk Conference loss to the 14th-ranked Butler Community College Grizzlies Wednesday night in the Power Plant.
Cloud County had rattled off four straight wins since a loss to undefeated Hutchinson Community College.
The T-Birds, now 10-6 overall and 6-5 in the conference, had won all three games since returning from semester break.
"We didn't play well at all," Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said. "Butler is a good team. Butler played harder, with more intensity from start to finish than we did. The disappointing thing with that is we didn't meet the physical challenge of the game."
Falling behind 8-4 to start the game, the T-Birds got a three-point basket by Destiny Smith and a bucket by Josephine Igherighe to take its only lead at 9-8 with 4:45 remaining in the first quarter.
Igherighe scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Cloud County.
The T-Birds went 4:01 without scoring.
Butler, 15-2 overall and 9-2 in conference play, scored 10 straight points to go up 18-9.
Igherighe scored for Cloud County to make it 18-11.
Picking up the final two points of the period, the Grizzlies led 20-11.
The two teams traded baskets to open the second quarter, and Igherighe scored to get Cloud County within seven points, 22-15.
Butler put together a 13-0 run over the next 4:07 and went up 35-17 when Freddie Wallace knocked down a three-point shot.
Wallace poured in 32 points for the Grizzlies. She also had 13 rebounds.
Cloud County ended a scoring drought of nearly five minutes when Igherighe scored inside to make it 35-19.
Butler would extend its lead to as many as 21 points.
Scoring the final four points of the first half, the T-Birds trailed 44-27.
Cloud County was trailing 48-29 in the second half when it mounted a comeback.
Starting with a three-point basket by Bailey Burns and a layup by Maimouna Sissoko, the T-Birds used a 17-8 spurt to close the gap to 56-46.
A basket by Butler made it 58-46.
Cloud County scored the next four points, and trailed just 58-50 when Igherighe went two of two from the free throw line with 32 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Wallace scored 16 seconds later and Butler took a 60-50 advantage into the final 10 minutes.
"I was pleased that we came out and competed in the third quarter," Erkenbrack said.
The Grizzlies dashed any hopes the T-Birds had of a comeback by scoring the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to open up a 70-50 lead.
Cloud County got as close as 18 points, but scored just three points over the final 5:33 as Butler pulled away for the win.
"We were just playing uphill all night and had terrible foul trouble, and that was our undoing and our own doing as well. We were just a step slow all night. We just got beat. Butler just beat us and we are going to have to move to the next one," Erkenbrack.
Sissoko joined Igherighe in double figures for the T-Birds with 16 points. She pulled down nine rebounds.
Darcy Lierz added six points and 10 rebounds.
Dayuna Colvin scored 15 points for Butler.
Cloud County will host Northwest Kansas Technical College at 2 p.m. Saturday.