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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Saturday, February 23, 2008
GREAT BEND – The
Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team played solid defense in
a must-win game on Saturday night, but fell short on the offensive end,
losing 59-42 against the No. 8-ranked Barton County Cougars at the Barton
County gym.
Hutchinson (21-7, 10-4)
is now eliminated from the Jayhawk West title chase, but will still play
host to a Region VI home playoff contest on March 4. Barton County (27-2,
13-2) clinched a share of the Jayhawk West title.
The Lady Dragons shot
just 14 of 54 from the field (25.9 percent). It was the second-worst
shooting effort all season. HCC shot 5 of 21 from 3-point range and 9 of 11
from the free-throw line. The Lady Dragons committed 18 turnovers, which led
to 26 Barton County points. The Dragons were facing the No. 7 defensive team
in the nation.
Sophomore Amanda
Fessenden led Hutchinson with 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a
steal. But no one else could score more than five. Sophomore Lanikia
Lawrence and freshman Lauren Sparks had five points each.
“We just have to have
perimeter people step up and score for us,” Hutchinson head coach John
Ontjes said. “We struggle offensively when they don’t.”
Barton County struggled
against Hutchinson’s No. 4 nationally ranked defense, especially in the
first half. In the first 20 minutes, Barton County shot just 8 of 34 (23.5
percent). With the help of several transition layups in the second half, the
Cougars shot 55.6 percent (15 of 27) in the second half and finished
shooting 37.7 percent (23 of 61), 5 of 24 from 3-point range and 8 of 14
from the free-throw line.
Courtney Sturdivant
scored 17 points to lead the Cougars, 12 on layups. Ipek Turkyilmaz scored
15 points and Inga Muciniece had 14, all in a second half where Barton
County outscored HCC 36-22.
“We didn’t get back in
transition in the second half,” Fessenden said. “We all went after the
offensive boards and we can’t do that.”
HCC enjoyed an early
lead that stretched to 10-4 after a Sparks’ basket with 14:34 remaining in
the first half. Barton responded with an 11-0 run, and took their second
lead just three minutes later at 12-10 on a Jessica Halsig basket.
Trailing 19-12, the Lady
Dragons went on an 8-1 run to tie the game at 20-all on a pair of Lawrence
free throws with 42 seconds left in the first half. Barton County answered
when Kristine Silaraja dropped a 3-point goal with 25 seconds left in the
half. HCC didn’t get a shot off before the buzzer and Barton led 23-20 at
halftime.
Down five just moments
into the second half, HCC went on a 10-2 run and led 30-27 with 13
The Lady Dragons took
the lead back early in that second period, and led 30-27 with just 13:12 to
play after a Fessenden basket.
Barton County then
displayed a most impressive stretch of basketball over the next five and a
half minutes.
The Cougars went on an
18-2 run over a 5 1/2 minute stretch, using both transition and a streak of
hot shooting to seize control of the contest. Turkyilmaz scored in
transition to give Barton County the lead for good at 31-30 with 12:29 to
play. Another Turkyilmaz field goal capped off the run and gave the Cougars
a 45-32 lead with 8:05 to play.
Fessenden ended the run
with a 3-pointer with 7:51 to play to cut the deficit to 45-35. A Kylee
Naccarato trey with 5:28 to play got HCC within seven at 49-42, with 5:28
remaining. But that turned out to be the final points of the night for
Hutchinson. Barton scored the last 10 points of the game.
“They had good shooters,
but we didn’t know they were going to get so many fast break layups,”
Lawrence said. “Other than that, we played good defense.”
Hutchinson can still
finish as high as No. 2 in the Jayhawk West and has two crucial games
remaining in the regular season at Garden City at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and
against nationally ranked Cloud County next Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Sports
Arena.
GAME NOTES
– Fessenden surpassed the 800-point mark for her career, jumping into HCC’s
career Top 10 in scoring. Fessenden moved past Missy Schomaker (1997-2000).
… This was the 50th all-time victory for Barton County against Hutchinson,
the most that any opponent has against HCC. … Fessenden tied K.C. Hilgenkamp
for sixth on HCC’s career 3-point list with 103. … Fessenden tied Natasha
McAtee for third on HCC’s career free-throw list with 243.
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John
Ontjes
On the total defense
…
“Defensively we were
very sound tonight, except for our basket protection. As good of a
rebounding team as they are, if you don’t get the rebound they’re going to
score at the other end.”
On being close for
much of the contest …
“Our girls came in here
and competed and played well for about 30 minutes. You can’t win basketball
games playing 30 minutes; you have to finish the game.”
Sophomore Guard
Amanda Fessenden
On the defensive game
plan …
“We tried to contain
penetration, and we knew they were good three point shooters so we tried to
close out all the way. We did pretty well.”
On the lack of
balance …
“In order to win against
good teams you need a balance. You have to be balanced scoring-wise.”
Sophomore Lanikia
Lawrence
On the fast breaks …
“They got a lot of fast
breaks. The point guard is supposed to sprint back, but they didn’t. Fast
break layups are the reason we lost.” |
