Kansas City, KS---The #6 ICC women's basketball team went toe-to-toe against #5 Kansas City Kansas CC but came up just short, losing 84-79 in overtime in Kansas City on Friday night.  The Cougars played well enough to get the victory as they won the rebounding battle 44-33 and shot 47.5% from the field but hurt themselves with thirty-four turnovers (many unforced) to get tagged with the loss.  

Despite nine early miscues, the Cougars only trailed 14-13 after the first quarter as Cierra McNamee, Kristyn Mitchell, and Kayla Gordon led the offensive attack.  Derria Edwards' ball-hawking defense helped ICC finish the first half on a 17-5 run as McNamee scored five points, Edwards bagged a trey, Dayja Evans scored five points, and T'yana Lovelace scored on a layup (assist Kayla Gordon) to give the Cougars a 35-25 halftime lead.

And then a switch flipped as ICC turned the ball over on their first four possessions allowing KCKCC to go on a 10-0 run to start the half and tie the score at 35-all.  The Cougars bounced back behind better offensive possessions, getting two three-pointers from Block (assists Edwards and Evans) and a layup from Courtney Jones to go back up 49-44 at the end of the third.

Edwards hit a three-pointer (assist Block) to give the Cougars a 52-46 lead to start the fourth period but they could not build on the lead due to three consecutive turnovers, and soon the score was tied again at 56-all with 5:00 minutes to play.  The hosts continued to be more efficient, taking a 65-62 lead with 1:40 to play and took a 69-66 lead on free throws with :10 seconds to play when Edwards hit a game-tying three-pointer to send the game into overtime. 

The teams played even the first couple of possessions at 74-all but then KCKCC hit back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to get enough of a cushion and get the win.

Leaders:
Derria Edwards 16 pts, 6 asts, 1 charge taken
Kyleigh Block 13 pts
CiCi McNamee 9 pts, 7 reb, 1 charge taken
Kristyn Mitchell 9 pts, 7 reb

Up next:  The Cougars, now 2-4, will play #2 Johnson County CC in Overland Park, KS on Saturday at 2pm.  Livestream will be on the JCCC Athletics YouTube Channel at:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC77ztJO5Jw0gaUMloYidC8w.