#8 Seward Downs Cloud, Now 3-0 in West Play
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cloud County Community College (7-9, 0-3) | 29 | 27 | 56 |
|
Seward County Community College (15-1, 3-0) | 43 | 26 | 69 |
It wasn't always pretty, but the #8 Seward County Lady Saints took care of business Saturday night in the Greenhouse, defending their home court to a tune of a 69-56 victory over rival Cloud County to improve their Jayhawk West Conference record to 3-0 and drop the Lady Thunderbirds to 0-3.
Going up against a shorthanded Cloud bunch, the Lady Saints took advantage early, playing an up-tempo pace to open the game with a 10-5 lead following a Rebekah Hatchard to Daniela Galindo hook up on a fast break. Cloud cut it back to a two point game after a three from the wing, but the Lady Saints continued to push, stretching their lead to 20-12 on a three point play by Tamara Seda at the midway point of the first half. The Lady Saints dominated on the inside which opened up the outside for sharpshooter Jackie Loya who came off the Seward bench to knock down a pair of threes to balloon the Lady Saints lead to 42-25 with under two minutes to go in the half. Seward missed their final three shots of the half, but the Lady Saints were still able to take a comfortable 43-29 lead into the break at half.
The Lady Saints outrebounded Cloud 31-22 in the first period and forced 11 Lady T-Bird turnovers. Seward was led by Galindo with 10 points while Seda pitched in 7 points and had a game high 9 rebounds.
Seward came out of the break hot and immediately extended their lead to a whopping 23 points just three minutes in as Galindo and Seda continued to lead the Lady Saints charge. Just when it seemed like the Lady Saints were going to blow the Lady T-Birds out of the building, Cloud began to make a comeback. The Lady Saints went ice cold over the next six minutes, watching their 23 point lead slowly shrink until it was just eight at 57-49 with 9:41 to go. Seward was able to get to the foul line on the next three possessions, making five of six attempts to push their lead back to 13 and it seemed to have dampened the struggling T-Birds spirits as the Lady Saints held a double digit lead the rest of the way, going on to take Cloud down by a score of 69-56 to remain unbeaten in conference action while Cloud was forced to make the long ride back to Concordia still looking for their first win.
Seda led the Lady Saints to victory with her third straight double-double, going for 12 points and 14 rebounds, along with 3 blocked shots in the win. Galindo also scored 12 points in the victory while Hatchard was right at her season average with 10. Jasmine Jordan and Jackie Loya each had 6 for Seward off the bench, Jordan adding 6 rebounds to go along with her half-dozen points. Both teams struggled shooting the ball as Seward finished just a tick better than Cloud at 35% shooting on the night while the T-Birds managed just 34%. The game was won by Seward at the free throw line where the Lady Saints outscored Cloud 23-6, hitting their freebies at a rate of 68%.
The 8th ranked Lady Saints remain perfect in Jayhawk West play, moving to 3-0 in league action and 15-1 overall. Cloud County's struggles continue as the Lady T-Birds fall to 7-9 overall and almost unseen ground as they are now 0-3 in Jayhawk West Conference play.
The Lady Saints will have a quick turnaround as they take the court again on Monday, traveling to Great Bend to take on Barton in a makeup game that was originally scheduled to be the two teams Jayhawk West opener on January 3rd.