By MIKE KESSINGER

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mkessinger@gctelegram.com

At the end of the first half, the Garden City Community College women's basketball team went into the locker room confident at Perryman Athletic Complex on Saturday.

The trouble was, Colby came out on fire to open the second half on its way to a 73-60 Jayhawk Conference win.

"Every possession matters," Garden City head coach Jake Ripple said. "(Colby) comes out in the second half and hits those two 3-pointers right off the bat. It changed the whole demeanor of our team, how we acted. It just really, really hurt us."

With a seven-point lead at halftime, the Lady Broncbusters could do little but watch in the first two minutes and 30 seconds of the second half. Colby (9-14, 4-5) opened the half on a 9-0 run topped off by a Whitney Archer 3-pointer that put the Lady Trojans up 35-33. Katie Novack put the Lady Busters back up by one with a 3-pointer, but Colby was quick to erase the deficit. Garden City (8-15, 3-6) never led from there.

"More than anything, the thing that's frustrating to me is that we talk about it all week, then we let them get open three's," Ripple said. "You know they can shoot it. You know that eventually their going to knock down three's. It caught up with us."

Everything that had gone right for Garden City in the first half didn't in the second. Garden City hit 5-of-6 from behind the three-point line in the first half. After halftime, the Lady Busters hit just 35.7 percent of its shots from 3-point range. Garden City's 31.4 percent field goal percentage in the second half was a drop off from the 48.3 percent they shot before halftime.

Colby expanded its second half lead into double-digits for the first time when Lauren Fortin hit a layup to make it 49-39. A Whitnie Young layup pulled the Lady Busters back within six, but it was as close as Colby allowed it to get from there.

Novack, who hit 6-of-9 from 3-point range finished with a game-high 24 points. She was followed by Amber Brown with 12.

Four different Lady Trojans scored in double-figures led by Sandra Sormaz with 22.

"We shot it well in the first half," Ripple said. "We got some things going inside. We didn't find as many things in the second half."

The Lady Busters will be back at home Wednesday against Butler Community College.

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COLBY (9-14, 4-5): Spresser 2-3 5-5 10, Fortin 5-9 1-2 12, Welsh 2-9 1-2 6, Sormaz 8-17 2-2 22, Archer 6-14 0-0 13, Phelan 0-2 2-2 2, Goodhue 0-2 2-2 2, Murray 1-1 0-0 2, Hilliard 0-1 0-0 0, Ciani 2-4 2-3 6. Totals -- 26-61 13-16 73.

GARDEN CITY (8-15, 3-6): Durler 2-5 0-0 4, Young 1-13 0-0 2, Schmitt 1-6 0-2 2, Novack 9-16 0-0 24, A. Brown 5-9 0-0 12, L. Brown 1-5 0-0 2, Copeland 2-6 0-0 6, Loadholt 4-4 0-0 8. Totals -- 25-64 0-2 60.

Halftime -- Garden City, 33-26. 3-Point goals -- Colby 8-28 (Sormaz 4-9, Welsh 1-6, Archer 1-5, Spresser 1-2, Fortin 1-2, Phelan 0-2, Goodhue 0-1, Ciani 0-1); Garden City 10-20 (Novack 6-9, A. Brown 2-5, Copeland 2-4, Young 0-1, Schmitt 0-1). Rebounds -- Colby 48 (Welsh 9); Garden City 28 (A. Brown 6). Fouled out -- None. Assists -- Colby 8 (Three with two); Garden City 14 (Young 7). Blocks -- Colby 4 (Four with one); Garden City 1 (Novack 1).