Sissoko, Igherighe lead CCCC to 72-64 victory

PRATT — Sophomores Maimouna Sissoko and Josephine Igherighe combined for 54 points and 36 rebounds in leading the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds to a 72-64 Jayhawk Conference victory over the Pratt Community College Beavers Saturday afternoon in the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena.
Sissoko, a 6-2 forward, scored 28 points and pulled down 22 rebounds in the win. She hit 14 of 28 field goal attempts.
Igherighe, a 5-8 guard, connected on 8 of 16 shots from the field and all 10 of her free throws in scoring 26 points. She grabbed 14 rebounds.
“We needed every point and every rebound we could get out of those two. Both of them played great,” Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said. “Mai and Josie were exceptional and that was pretty much it. Those two dominated the game and offset the 30-some points from Princess Anderson.”
Cloud County, picking up a third consecutive win, improved to 9-5 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
“It is a really good win for us. Any time you get those wins on the road in the conference like that it is critical,” Erkenbrack said. “I am real happy with the way we have played the first week back from break. Now we get a little time to get our legs back under us and get ready for Saturday.
The T-Birds have a week off before hosting Cowley College on Saturday.
Cloud County jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the game.
Pratt, trailing 11-3, got a pair of layups by Anderson, a three-point shot by Isis Sanders and then a three by Anderson to grab its first lead of the game, 13-10.
Anderson, who is averaging 25 points per contest, poured in 32 points. She was 14 of 33 from the floor.
“She (Anderson) is a good player. She is quick and she is aggressive,” Erkenbrack said.
Baskets by Igherighe and Sissoko put Cloud County back up 15-13.
The two teams traded baskets, and the T-Birds led 17-15.
A free throw by Sanders in the final second of the first quarter left Pratt trailing 17-16.
Cloud County extended its lead to 23-18 in the first 2:30 of the second period.
Connecting on three three-point shots, the Beavers went on a 15-5 run to take its biggest lead at 31-26.
Down 35-30, the T-Birds got a basket by Sissoko, a steal and layup by Darcy Lierz and another bucket by Sissoko to reclaim the lead at 36-35 at halftime.
“It was a critical juncture in the game because we had totally lost the momentum and lost the lead in the second quarter and then we made a couple of plays. Darcy made a big play and got a steal and a layup. I thought that it was a big deal in that game for us to go up at halftime,” Erkenbrack said.
Cloud County opened the second half with a 10-4 spurt to make it a 46-39 game.
Pratt would come to within three points, 54-52, when Anderson scored with eight seconds left in the third quarter.
Igherighe drew a foul with one second on the clock and made both free throws to put the T-Birds up 56-52.
It was a 62-55 advantage when Pratt scored five quick points to close the gap to 62-60 with only seven minutes to play.
Cloud County held the Beavers scoreless for more than four minutes and scored six straight points to open up a 68-60 lead.
Sanders made one of two free throws, and Pratt trailed 68-61 with 2:35 on the clock.
Layups by Sissoko and Igherighe put the game out of reach for the T-Birds.
Bailey Burns scored 12 points for Cloud County.
The T-Birds had a 62-26 rebounding advantage.
Sanders finished with 13 points for Pratt.