Splitting a week of home KJCCC basketball, the Cloud County women’s basketball team fell to number 11-ranked Butler and defeated Independence.
Versus #11 Butler, the T-Birds fell 83-54.
After Cloud made the first basket of the game with a Jelena Jankovic three-pointer, the Grizzlies took the momentum with nine straight points. Cloud would keep the game close, but with 1:47 left in the opening quarter, Butler went on a 5-1 spurt to take a 21-11 lead after one quarter.
Cloud opened the second quarter with a 7-2 run that took the lead down to five, 23-18. After two minutes of scoreless basketball, Butler broke the drought with a pair of free throws, but the T-Birds scored seven straight points to tie the game at 25 with 3:14 left in the half. It would be a one-possession game to close to the quarter, but two Grizzly free throws with 16 seconds put Butler up five, 33-28, entering halftime.
Butler was able to create separation in the third quarter, opening with a 17-2 run to take a 50-30 lead before an and-one by Sofija Todorovic was able to break the run. Both teams would go back and forth for the remaining five minutes, with Butler entering the fourth quarter with a 65-46 lead.
The Grizzlies expanded their lead in the fourth quarter. After Cloud was able to match for the first three minutes, Butler pushed the lead to 29 with under two minutes to go. One more basket each gave the final score of 81-54.
The T-Birds got outscored 50-26 in the second half.
Todorovic led in scoring with 11 points.
Amanda Makela had eight points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Camiah Muldrow had eight points, three assists, two rebounds and a steal.
Versus Independence, the T-Birds won 79-59.
Cloud came out scorching versus the Pirates, scoring five straight points to open the game. After Cloud held a 9-5 lead with 5:42 remaining in the first quarter, the T-Birds went on a 24-3 run for the rest of the quarter, holding the Pirates to 15 percent from the field while Cloud shot 70.6 percent and held a 33-8 lead.
Playing with the lead, things would return to normal for the T-Birds. The Pirates would have a solid 9-2 start to the quarter, but back-to-back threes by Amanda Makela would put the T-Bird lead back into the 20s. Both teams only scored four points each in the final four minutes of the quarter, with the T-Birds holding a 45-33 lead.
The Pirates managed to chip a bit off the lead in the third quarter, opening with back-to-back threes, before Wurtz made back-to-back layups, with the Pirates scoring 10 straight points to cut it to a 49-39 game. Indy would keep the pressure on the T-Birds and got the lead down to eight with 2:06 remaining, with Cloud closing on a 6-2 spurt to lead 59-47 entering the fourth quarter.
Cloud fully retook momentum in the fourth quarter, going on a 9-3 spurt to take an 18-point lead early in the fourth. Cloud would be able to coast and match the Pirates and keep them out of comeback territory as Cloud earned the 79-59 victory.
Marilyn Soeken led in scoring with a season high 20 points, a season high seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
Amanda Makela had a season high 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Leila Washington had 11 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and a steal.
