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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports
Information
Wednesday, January
23, 2008
The
Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team had its nine-game
winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in Jayhawk Conference
Western Division play as No. 23 Barton County came to the Sports Arena and
defeated the Lady Dragons 62-50 on Wednesday night.
HCC
(16-4 overall) lost for the first time at home in 11 games at the Sports
Arena. The Lady Dragons (5-1 Jayhawk West) were bidding for their first 6-0
conference start since 1979.
The
Lady Dragons shot just 37.0 percent (17 of 46) against Barton County’s big
match-up zone defense. That defense shut down Hutch’s offense enough to go
on a 11-0 run early in the first half and the Lady Dragons were in a hole
the rest of the way.
Freshman guard Lauren Sparks led Hutchinson with career-highs of 21 points,
five rebound and four 3-point goals. Sparks was 8 of 11 shooting overall, 4
of 5 from 3-point range. She has scored in double figures in all six
conference games this season.
“When
I first got here, I guess I was really nervous playing in front of people,”
Sparks said. “It’s a different style of game then back home. I feel more
confident now.”
Sophomore Amanda Fessenden also scored in double figures, with 10 points and
eight rebounds.
The
Lady Dragons stayed relatively close thanks to their 3-point shooting. Hutch
shot 8 of 22 from beyond the arc, and only 8 of 15 from the free-throw line.
The Dragons committed 22 turnovers and were outrebounded for only the third
time this season, 46-38.
Barton County (19-2, 5-2) was held to its lowest shooting percentage of the
season, 29.6 percent (21 of 71). The Cougars knocked down 8 of 25 3-pointers
and 12 of 16 free throws. The Cougars also got many more offensive
opportunities with 22 offensive rebounds.
Barton County was led by its leading scorer, Courtney Sturdivant, who scored
22 points, 16 coming in a first half that saw the Cougars build a 35-23
lead. Kristine Silaraja and Ipek Turkyilmaz were also in double figures,
with 15 and 14, respectively. All 14 of Turkyilmaz’s points came in the
second 20 minutes.
The
game started off with 3-pointers from both squads, with Jessica Halsig
starting the scoring and Sparks answering. Another Sparks trey tied the game
at 6-all before the Cougars went on a 11-0 led by Sturdivant, who had seven
points in the run. Barton County held Hutchinson scoreless for 5 minutes, 36
seconds and led 18-6 on Sturivant’s jumper with 13:04 to play in the half.
A
Brittany Hines 3-pointer pulled Hutchinson within 23-18 with 8:27 remaining
in the half. Despite having several opportunities to do so, HCC couldn’t
pull any closer before halftime and went to the locker room down 35-23.
With
Barton County leading 42-30, the Cougars reeled off seven unanswered points
to build its largest lead of the game at 49-30 with 14:58 to play on a
Turkyilmaz 3-pointer.
The
Dragons answered that run with a 12-0 run over the next 5 minutes, 23
seconds. After a Fessenden 3-pointer and Sparks’ layup HCC trailed 49-42
with 6:19 to play in the game.
The
Lady Dragons had just one field goal after that and were outscored 13-8 in
the final 5 1/2 minutes.
The
Lady Dragons get their chance to bounce back at home, when they will take on
7-12 Garden City 5:30 p.m. on Saturday to close out a two-game homestand.
GAME NOTES
– Sparks’ previous scoring high came on the road against Butler, where she
scored 12 points. … Sparks is now 12 of 21 from 3-point range in conference
play. … Forward Amber Schroer led Hutchinson with nine rebounds, working
against 6-foot-5 Inga Muciniece. Schroer held the Barton County center to
two points, but Muciniece had 12 rebounds. … The 62 points were a season-low
for Barton County, which averages a Region VI-high 81.6 points per game.
<HCC WOMEN-BARTON COUNTY BOXSCORE>
<HCC-BARTON COUNTY PHOTO GALLERY>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On
playing the Barton County defense …
“We
talked about not attacking, We didn’t get enough basket cuts. Amber did a
good job defensively, but we didn’t guard the 3-point line well enough.”
On
playing against Courtney Sturdivant …
“She
played 39 minutes, and she really hurt us having 16 at halftime. We
adjusted well at the half, but she’s an awfully good player.”
Freshman Guard Lauren Sparks
On
the Barton defense …
“Their defense is intense the whole game.”
On
the Cougars’ speed …
“We
prepared for them to be fast, but we had trouble defending on ball screens,
which we actually worked a lot on.”
Sophomore Guard Amanda Fessenden
On
the Barton offensive attack …
“Coach told us that they were good shooters, and they hit open shots. We
turned it over way too much.”
On
Courtney Sturdivant …
“Sturdivant is a really good player, and we tried to get the ball out of her
hands.” |
