by Matt Kinney
CONCORDIA, Kan. – A slow start offensively would do little to slow the Cloud County Community College women’s basketball team in their 2022 season opener as the T-Birds would earn an 82-42 home victory over North Platte Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium on Tuesday, November 1st.
Six empty possessions to begin the game would allow the first 1:41 of the contest to burn off the clock before an Alize Ruiz transition layup would break a scoreless tie and get the T-Birds on the board. Cloud County would go on to score each of the first seven points in the contest capped off by a Lilly Smith triple with 7:25 in the first quarter to force a quick timeout from North Platte. Things would remain a low-scoring opening period throughout the next four-plus minutes of action as just three total points would be scored during the span to put things at an 8-2 CCCC lead. Following a shooting foul on the Knights, sophomore Makayla Twyman would connect on both free throw attempts to push the T-Bird lead to eight at 10-2 as things would pick up offensively in the final three minutes of the first quarter. Despite flirting with a double-digit lead on back-to-back possessions, Cloud County would not be able to extend their lead past nine until a Tereia Steward triple with 1:05 left in the quarter would help a 7-2 surge to end the quarter put CCCC up 20-7 heading into the second.
Wasting little time to grow their lead, Cloud County would manage to score seven of the opening nine points of the second to go up 19 at 27-8 as NPCC would continue to be limited offensively. The lead would not grow any more in the first half however as North Platte would manage to hold the T-Birds to just six points over the ensuing seven-plus minutes to get the deficit down to 11 before a Smith trey with 14 seconds left in the half would cap off a 36-22 lead for CCCC heading into intermission.
After giving up a bucket to open the third quarter, Cloud County would respond by going on a 19-2 run that would blow the game wide open as a 12-point lead would balloon to 27 at 55-28 mid-way through the period. CCCC’s lead would hit the 30-point mark on a Ruiz triple with 2:15 left in the third as the T-Birds would be in total control heading into the fourth while holding a 61-34 lead.
In the final 10 minutes of action, CCCC would score each of the first 17 points in the period while holding North Platte scoreless for over eight minutes of game time to take their largest lead of the night at 78-34. Two free throws for the Knights would be all that North Platte could muster until 57 seconds left in the game when NPCC would get one of their only two made field goals in the final frame as CCCC would earn the 40-point win.
As a team, Cloud County would shoot just 38.9 percent (28-of-72) from the field while taking advantage of 11 made threes and 15 made free throws to contribute to their runaway victory. North Platte meanwhile would shoot just 29.2 percent (14-of-48) from the field and connect on just two-of-14 (14.3 percent) of their three-point attempts while also getting outscored 30-6 in points off turnovers and 22-6 in second-chance points.
Four of CCCC’s five starters would reach double-figures in the contest as all 11 T-Birds would score at least two points in the win with Lilly Smith (Comanche) scoring a game-high 17 points in 27 minutes of action. Ruiz would go a perfect five-for-five from the field as part of a 14-point effort to go along with 10 rebounds while both Twyman and Te Araroa Sopoaga would finish with 12 points apiece. North Platte was led by a team-best 11 points from Samantha Riggles who would be limited to just 19 minutes while facing foul trouble throughout the night.
