Hosting the number 17-ranked team in the country in a rescheduled matchup, the Cloud County Community College’s slow start doomed the Lady Thunderbird’s to a 69-59 loss to Coffeyville.
Cloud quickly found themselves behind early, with the Red Ravens taking a quick 12-2 lead, with the two points coming from free throws. It wouldn’t be until 1:19 remaining that the T-Birds made a field goal, thanks to Melin Guo, as Coffeyville held a 15-4 lead. Cloud would make two more shots to cap the first quarter down eight, 17-9.
Cloud’s offense would continue to struggle in the second, going over four minutes before they made a basket, instead relying on free throws to pick up points. In the meantime, Coffeyville would expand their lead to 22 points. Cloud would build some momentum going on a 10-2 run over the final four minutes to close the half, down 35-21.
Through great effort, Cloud was doing their best to chip away at the lead. The T-Birds would get the lead down to nine multiple times, but the Red Ravens would always counter and keep them at bay. A Shea Wurtz three-pointer with five seconds remaining put the T-Birds down by nine, 49-40, with one quarter to play.
Cloud failed to break through and gain any more momentum in the fourth quarter, as Coffeyville quickly ran their lead up to 18 points towards the end of the game.
Talasia Thomas had 13 points and seven rebounds.
DaNae Crosby had 11 points, four assists, and two steals.
Kiley Smich had 11 points and three steals.
Facing off against the number-eight team in the country in their home arena, the Cloud County Community College Lady Thunderbirds fell to Hutchinson 71-66 in an absolute slugfest.
Hutchinson would hold the momentum early, jumping out to a seven-point lead, 12-5, early in the first quarter. A 14-6 run to close the quarter would give the T-Birds a 19-18 lead after the first quarter.
In the second quarter was when Hutchinson would counter the Cloud momentum, scoring five straight points to open the quarter. The Blue Dragons would go on an 11-2 run in the first five minutes before Cloud would find its footing. Cloud would knock the lead down to three points, 33-30, with 1:15 remaining. Hutchinson would lead 36-30 going into halftime.
The dual would continue with Hutchinson scoring five straight points to get its lead up to 11 before the quarter became punch counterpunch. Exchanging baskets and mini runs back and forth, the T-Birds were able to keep themselves in the game but weren’t able to get close enough to grab the lead. Cloud entered the fourth down by seven, 55-48.
Back-to-back threes would knock the Hutch lead down to two with four minutes to go and the offensive exchange continued all the way to the final minute. With the T-Birds down by five with a minute to play, both teams only managed to score one free throw each as Hutchinson held on to get the 71-66 win and remain perfect at home.
TiAna Davis had 16 points, six assists, and two steals.
Shea Wurtz had 16 points, six rebounds, and a steal.
Lilliana Petersen had 13 points, four rebounds, and a steal.
Talasia Thomas had 11 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
