Turnovers costly as Broncbusters drop first game of the season

Concordia, KS-This was the one that slipped away.  

Destiny Smith drilled a 26-foot 3-pointer with less than 30 seconds to play, Josephine Igherighe finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Cloud County handed Garden City its first loss of the season, 58-54 Wednesday night at Arley Bryant Gymnasium.  

Sierra Driessen scored 16 points for Garden City, but she was just 6-of-17 from the field and turned the ball over eight times. As a team, the Broncbusters had 25 giveaways, tied for the second most in a game this season. 

And the look on Head Coach Greg Franklin's face in the final seconds said it all. 

Driessen's layup with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter gave Garden City a 39-31 lead. But the Broncbusters managed just one field goal the rest of the period as Cloud County used a 10-3 run to pull within one going to the fourth. 

That's where the game slipped away.  

In that deciding final period, Garden City (8-1, 3-1) missed 13 of their 18 shots and turned the ball over six times. They went the first 3:30 without a field goal and were outscored 17-12. Still, after Maya Nieto answered Igherighe's 3-pointer with a triple on the other end, Garden City was up 54-51 with 3:22 remaining. 

They never scored again.  

Sarah Lawless drained two free throws, Igherighe turned Antonicia Moultrie's turnover into the go-ahead layup, and Smith beat the shot-clock buzzer with her lone 3-pointer of the night.  

Moultrie netted 10 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for Garden City, which shot just 36 percent and was 3-of-16 from beyond the arc. Ana Ramos Pires had 11 points and nine boards before fouling out late in the fourth quarter, and Yancy was had seven points in 32 minutes.  

Darcy Lierz finished with 13 points for Cloud County, which snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 6-3 overall and 2-2 in conference. Maimouna Sissoko added 10 points and seven rebounds.