Late-game struggles cost Garden City on their home floor

Garden City, KS-Late-game situations continue to haunt Garden City. 

Talasia Thomas had 22 points and 17 rebounds, TiAna Davis scored 16, and Cloud County erased a double-digit deficit in the second half to stun the Broncbusters, 57-53 in overtime Monday afternoon at Conestoga Arena. 

Antonicia Moultrie finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for Garden City, which dropped to 8-7 overall and 5-5 in conference play. Sierra Driessen scored 12 before leaving late in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury.  

The Broncbusters took their largest lead of the game, 39-28 following a layup by Ana Ramos Pires with 2:05 left in the third. They were up nine going to the fourth.  

But Garden City's recent late-game struggles reared its ugly head again in the final period as they made just one shot over the first eight minutes of the quarter. Meantime Cloud County polished off a 19-8 run with Davis's driving 2-pointer that tied the game at 47 with 47 seconds to go.  

Still, the Broncbusters were in prime position to win the game after Bruna Costa Da Silva finished a tough layup in traffic to give Garden City a 49-47 advantage with 15 seconds on the clock.  

All Greg Franklin's team needed was a stop on Cloud County's final possession, and they appeared to make it when Davis missed a layup. But with the ball loose on the floor, the Broncbusters failed to gain possession. Seconds later, Wurtz was fouled by Costa Da Silva with .3 seconds remaining. The freshman then hit two clutch free throws to tie it, and Erianna Thomas missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer sending the game into overtime.  

Without Driessen, Garden City simply ran out of gas in the extra period.  

The Thunderbirds scored the first six points of overtime and never looked back. Although, the Broncbusters missed a chance to make it a one-point game following a Davis turnover that led to a wide-open Jolie Mantz 3-pointer from the top of the key. But the shot missed wide left, Lilliana Petersen then put the game away on the other end with a runner high off the glass, and the Broncbusters suffered yet another setback after leading late in the second half.  

Mantz, who appeared to break out of her shooting funk on Saturday, finished just 2-of-10 from the field in 39 minutes for Garden City. Ajong Lual played well of the bench, scoring 10 points. 

As well as the Broncbusters started on Saturday vs. Butler is how poorly they came out of the gate on Monday. Cloud County raced out to a 12-0 lead prompting Franklin to use a pair of timeouts. But Garden City responded with a 23-11 run, and Driessen's buzzer-beating layup tied the game at 23 at the half.