Western Nebraska hands Thunderbirds first loss, 99-54

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — A slow start, cold shooting and turnovers added up to a lopsided loss for the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds.
Cloud County fell behind by 20 points in the first quarter, connected on just 13 of 45 field goal attempts for 29 percent and turned the ball over 31 times in losing 99-54 to Western Nebraska Community College in the second round of the Hampton Inn Reiver Classic, hosted by Iowa Western Community College, on Saturday.
“All of our deficiencies were exposed and we had a ton of unforced turnovers,' Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said, “We got ourselves out of sync and really played back on our heels all day. Not to take anything away from Western Nebraska because I think it is a great ball-club and played a very good game, but we inflicted a lot of pain on ourselves.”
Cloud County, coming off a 73-57 win over Jefferson (Mo.) College on Friday, went 1-1 in the classic and is now 3-1 on the season heading into a matchup tonight against the Doane University junior varsity.
Western Nebraska (2-2) bolted to a 30-10 lead in the first quarter, and the T-Birds would never recover.
Cloud County was outscored 21-16 in the second period, and trailed 51-26 at halftime.
The T-Birds would pump in 20 points in the third quarter, but gave up 27, and the Cougars had a 78-46 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Western Nebraska limited Cloud County to just eight points in that fourth period, and scored 21.
Sophomore Scout Frame connected on just 4 of 11 field goal attempts, but made 11 of 14 free throws in leading Cloud County with 19 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
Cassidy Haufler, a sophomore, joined Frame in double figures with 12 points and also pulled down eight boards.
Freshman Emily Hendrixson chipped in eight points and five assists.
No other Cloud County player scored more than four points.
The T-Birds went to the free throw line 38 times in the game, but made just 25 of those attempts for 66 percent.
“When we did take the fight to them, we got a lot of stuff we wanted on offense,” Erkenbrack said, “We got to the line a lot and got a lot of scoring opportunities that we were unable to convert on. And we'd have gotten to the line a few more times if not for the amount of turnovers we had.”
Western Nebraska had six players score in double figures led by Merle Wiehl with 22 points.
Tishara Morehouse scored 20 points.
Yuliyana Valcheva hit all eight of her free throw attempts in scoring 14 points.
R'manie Pulling tossed in 12 points.
Taylor Joplin finished with 11 points and Eva Langton added 10 points.
The Cougars host 53 percent (37 of 70) from the field and 84 percent (16 of 19) from the free throw line.