Thunderbirds open season with 82-42 win over Knights

All 10 players available contributed as the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team opened its season with an 82-42 victory over North Platte Community College Tuesday night in Bryant Gymnasium.
Cloud County, without sophomore returnee Jessi Brummett because of an injury, had 10 players score, including four in double figures, in the romp over the Knights.
Sophomore transfer Lilly Smith, a 5-2 guard, led Cloud County with 17 points. She hit 5 of 11 three-point attempts.
Alize Ruiz, another sophomore transfer, was five of five from the field in scoring 14 points for the T-Birds. She also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.
Returning sophomores Te Araroa Sopoaga and Makayla Twyman added 12 points each.
“I felt like we had 10 people who could play in that game and contribute and they all did,” Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said. “We are low on numbers, but at the same time I think we have pretty good depth. I think we have multiple people at every position who can positively contribute. And I was happy to see that was the case.”
Scoring the first seven points, Cloud County would never trail in the game.
Six different players scored as the T-Birds built a 20-7 lead in the first quarter.
North Platte scored the first point of the second period on a free throw by Chrishele Washington.
Cloud County got a bucket by Maimouna Sissoko, a three-point shot by Smith and a basket by Twyman to extend its lead to 27-8 with 2:15 gone by in the second quarter.
North Platte would put together a 14-6 run to close the gap to 33-22.
“They (Knights) came out and picked up the physical play. They pushed us around a little bit in the latter part of the second quarter,” Erkenbrack said.
Smith knocked down a three and the T-Birds led the Knights 36-22 at halftime.
Cloud County, leading 41-27 in the second half, got back-to-back threes by Twyman and Smith to start a 14-0 spurt that made it a 55-27 game.
“I felt that we made some real improvement there from the second quarter to the third quarter. After halftime, we came out and asserted ourselves a little bit better,” Erkenbrack said. “We made some real nice plays. I was pleased that we found some shooters at the right times. The second half I felt we posted up a little bit harder.”
Hitting 9 of 18 field goal attempts, including four of seven three-point tries in the third quarter, the T-Birds carried a 61-34 advantage into the final 10 minutes of play.
Cloud County then scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to open up a 68-34 lead on its way to the 40-point win.
The T-Birds shot 39 percent (28 of 72) from the field and 63 percent (15 of 24) from the free throw line. They made 11 of 33 three-point attempts for 33 percent and had a 50-35 rebounding advantage.
Samantha Riggles led North Platte with 11 points.
The Knights committed 34 turnovers in the game.
Cloud County will be on the road to play Highland Community College on Friday night.