Strong third quarter propels Cloud County women over MCC 67-49

CONCORDIA, Kan. – The Cloud County Community College women's basketball team exploded in the third quarter Thursday and went on to a 67-49 win over McCook Community College.

Tied at 22 at the 8:35 mark of the third period, the Thunderbirds went on a 24-4 run to take a 20-point lead at the quarter's end and rode that momentum to the team's fourth win to start the season.

"I thought we played one of the better first halves we've had all year and then we came out flat in the third," said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett.

MCC's offense finally came alive in the fourth quarter as the team outscored Cloud County in the final 10 minutes 23-21.

Freshman Marta Moya Perez (Alboraya, Spain) led MCC with 17 points.  

Vanessa Jurewicz (sophomore, Stockholm, Sweden) had a team-high seven rebounds and five assists to go along with nine points. Rebecca Dunn (freshman, Colorado Springs, Colo.) chipped in nine points on a four of five-shooting night, along with three rebounds.

MCC shot 35.8 percent from the floor, made three of 14 shots from the 3-point line (21.4 percent) and made eight of 10 free throws. MCC turned the ball over 25 times

"And we again turned the ball over and mostly due to our own fault," said Pritchett.

Cloud County shot 32.3 percent for the game, went seven-for-21 from the 3-point line and made 18 of 23 free throws (78.3 percent). The Thunderbirds won the battle on the boards 44-25 which included 19 on the offensive end. CCCC had 18 turnovers.

"We knew this team rebounds the ball well and we gave up 19 offensive rebounds. It's tough to win games giving up that many second and third-chance opportunities," said Pritchett.

Freshman Maimouna Sissoko led Cloud County with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Cloud County improves to 4-0 on the season.

MCC falls to 1-4. The team has the weekend off to prepare for a trip to Hobbs, N.M. Nov. 18-19 for the New Mexico Junior College Classic where they will play No. 8 New Mexico Junior College (2-0) at 7 p.m. in the Friday game and take on Frank Phillips College Nov. 19 at 3 p.m.

"It will be nice to get some time finally to work on some things this week. Playing five games in 10 days is tough and hopefully what we are going through right now helps us in a tough region schedule," Pritchett said. "We'll regroup, get a day off and work on some individual things and get back to action as we prepare for a tough weekend trip to Hobbs, N.M. against two tough opponents."

The next home game for MCC will be Nov. 22 against Central Community College at 5:30 p.m.

For all the up-to-date information on MCC women's basketball this season and all sports including schedules, statistics, rosters and photos, please visit the official website of MCC Athletics at mccindians.com