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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Seward County All-American Tegan Cunningham
scored 22 points, but a team effort, especially defensively, led the
Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team to a 61-51 victory over
Seward County in HCC’s 2008 Jayhawk West opener on Saturday night at the
Sports Arena.
“We knew that Tegan was a great player, and I
told the girls she would get her points,” HCC coach John Ontjes said. “If
we could do a good job on their role players, we thought we could steal a
win.”
The Lady Dragons (12-3, 1-0) did just that,
holding Seward County – the No. 1 team in the NJCAA preseason poll – to 32.8
percent shooting and 19 points under their 70.5 point-per-game average.
“It was our gameplan to contain Tegan,” HCC
freshman point guard Lauren Sparks said. “Everyone on their team can knock
down a shot.”
This was HCC’s first conference-opening
victory over Seward County in nine tries since the league expanded to 19
teams before the 1996-97 season. It’s only HCC’s third victory over Seward
County in the last 30 meetings and snapped a three-game losing streak to the
Saints.
Hutchinson placed three players in double
figures with sophomore Amanda Fessenden leading the way with 15 points,
hitting 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. Freshman Kylee Naccarato finished
with 12 points, while Sparks had 10 points, two assists and two steals.
Hutchinson had a good night from 3-point
range, shooting 8 of 14 (57.1 percent). Naccarato, Purcell and Sparks all
had two each. HCC shot 41.3 percent (19 of 46) from the field and 15 of 20
from the foul line. The Lady Dragons did have 23 turnovers.
Sophomore Amber Schroer led the lady Dragons
with 10 rebounds, as HCC outrebounded the Saints 40-29.
Seward County (11-6, 1-1) equaled the Dragons
with 19 field goals, but took 58 attempts to shoot just 32.8 percent
overall. The Saints were 5 of 21 from 3-point range, and shot 8 of 10 from
the line. Haley Rogers had seven points. No other Saint scored more than
four points.
Seward was stronger out of the gate, jumping
out to an 11-5 lead thanks to seven early points from Cunningham. Sophomores
Fairen Lepaio and Hailey Purcell hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the next
couple minutes to tie the game at 11 a piece.
HCC extended the run to 10-0 when they took a
15-11 lead at the 10 minute mark after a Naccarato layup. HCC then made six
consecutive free throws and took a 26-18 lead with 4:44 remaining in the
first half.
Cunningham once again asserted herself,
scoring six more points before the half to pull Seward County within 30-27
at half after LaNell Taylor hit a 3-pointer with 1 second left on the clock.
Schroer and Sparks helped HCC maintain its
lead early in the second half, scoring the first five points on a Schroer
putback and a Sparks trey to lead 35-27 with 15:44 to play.
Cunningham hit consecutive field goals to
bring her team within two at 39-37, but they got no closer.
Naccarato and Fessenden hit back-to-back
3-point field goals for another eight point lead at 45-37 with just under
ten minutes to go.
Cunningham had one more spurt to try and lead
the Saints back, but the closest Seward County got was 50-45 with 4:37 to
play.
A Naccarato 3 with 3:39 left put the dagger
permanently into Seward County, giving the Lady Dragons their first 10 point
lead of the second half at 55-45 with 3:39 to go.
“It’s really good to beat them by ten
points,” Purcell said. “Our whole team played so well.”
HCC will continue league play against rival
Butler on the road on Wednesday.
GAME NOTES
– With the win, HCC is now 16-15 in the all-time series against Seward
County at the Sports Arena, but still trails 36-29 in the all-time series. …
While HCC only had a three-point lead at halftime, it proved to be safe
enough. The Lady Dragons are now 11-0 on the season when leading at the
half. … Overall the HCC defense forced Seward into only 15 turnovers. …
Fessenden has now made 13 consecutive free throws, as she looks to challenge
the record of 18 she set previously this season. Fessenden has also had a
run of 15 straight makes. … HCC scored as many points vs. Seward County on
Saturday night than it did in two games last season. HCC had 61 points on
Saturday and a combined 61 in two games last season, scoring 37 and 24.
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OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the long break between games …
“I thought we would come out and be rusty,
but for the most part we were pretty sharp for the whole 40 minutes.”
On the Seward program …
“They have a great program and tradition, and
we’re trying to do that same thing here.”
On the defensive effort …
“I was really proud of our defense. There
was never a lot of penetration, and we did a good job of making them work to
get shots.”
Sophomore Forward Hailey Purcell
On the long rest …
“I was kind of nervous for our team, because
we’re really young, but we pulled it off tonight.”
On guarding Cunningham …
“It was a team effort, we all played a role
in guarding Tegan. We were able to hold her to nine points in the 2nd
half.”
Freshman Guard Lauren Sparks
On this week of practice…
“We prepared really well this week, everyone
worked hard in practice.”
On moving forward from this win…
“This gives us a lot of confidence. We have
to come down off this win and prepare for our next game against Butler.” |
