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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
GARDEN CITY – The
Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team got back to a balanced
offensive attack that has been a season-long recipe for success on Wednesday
night at Garden City as the Lady Dragons defeated the Broncbusters 72-60 at
the Perryman Athletic Complex.
Hutchinson ran its
record to 22-7 overall, which ties for the fifth-most victories in Lady
Dragon history. At 11-4 in the Jayhawk West, HCC can still finish in a tie
for second place in the league.
Against Garden City,
four players scored in double figures for the first time in four games for
HCC. The Lady Dragons had their best shooting performance in the last seven
games, shooting 49.1 percent (27 of 55).
“We were balanced and
kids stepped up and made baskets when they needed to,” HCC head coach John
Ontjes said. “I was proud of our kids, they stepped up and executed and
made some big baskets late in the game.”
Sophomore Amanda
Fessenden led the way with 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
Freshmen Kylee Naccarato
and Brittany Hines both broke out of scoring slumps. Naccarato had 12 points
on 3 of 4 shooting, 2 of 2 from long range and 4 of 4 free throws. Hines had
her first double-figures scoring game in 10 games with 10 points, to go with
three assists and two steals.
Sophomore Hailey Purcell
came up big as the fourth Lady Dragon to reach double figured with 10
points. Purcell also had four points and three assists.
Sophomores Lanikia
Lawrence and Amber Schroer just missed double figures with eight points
each. Schroer added eight rebounds.
The Lady Dragons had a
season-low three 3-point goals on 12 attempts, but was a solid 15 of 18 from
the free-throw line.
HCC trailed 31-28 at
halftime, but took control the second half, outscoring Garden City (10-19,
5-10) 44-29 in the second half. Hutchinson shot 53.6 percent (15 of 28),
while holding the Busters to 26.7 percent (8 of 30) in the second half.
Garden City by Whitnie
Young and Katie Novack, who had 14 points each.
The Busters finished
shooting 31.6 percent on the game (18 of 57), but knocked down 9 of 22
3-point goals and were 15 of 16 from the free-throw line. Garden City was a
55-percent team from the foul line this season. Hutchinson’s defense forced
27 turnovers.
Hutchinson came out of
the gates strong, bucking the trend of recent slow starts. Briyana Evans’
layup with 13 minutes to play gave HCC a 13-4 lead.
“It was very important
to get a quick start” Naccarato said. “It made it a little easier tonight.”
The Lady Dragons pushed
the margin to 10 points for the first time after a Naccarato 3-pointer for a
20-10 lead with 8:04 to play in the half. Still leading 24-14, the Lady
Dragons scored just two field goals over the final 6 minutes and saw Garden
City close the half on a 21-8 run, aided by three treys.
After an Evans layup
with 2:27 to play in the half tied the game at 28-all, Young scored from
short range and hit 1 of 2 free throws to help Garden City take a 31-28 lead
at halftime.
Young scored the first
five points of the second half for Garden City, her 3-point goal with 18:02
to play gave Garden City a 36-30 lead and had the Lady Dragons reeling.
The Lady Dragons
responded, though, scoring eight straight points and took a 38-36 lead on a
Purcell bucket with 15:42 to play. Trailing 46-44 with 12:30 to play, HCC
began to take control of the game. Hines’ layup tied the game at 46-all. Two
Lawrence free throws put HCC up 48-46 and a Naccarato 3-pointer with 10:27
to play gave the Lady Dragons a 51-46 lead.
HCC finally started to
beat Garden City’s full-court press consistently. When Hines beat the press
for a layup with 4:23 to play, that capped a 16-4 Blue Dragon run.
“Our conference games
are almost over, and everyone just started to realize the importance of
winning,” Purcell said. “We want to try and get the third spot.”
Hutchinson will get the
chance to secure the third position in the Jayhawk West it plays host to
19th-ranked Cloud County at 2 p.m. on Saturday in a rematch of the 59-55
thriller that Hutchinson won in Concordia on Jan 30.
GAME NOTES
– HCC is now 3-7 when trailing at halftime. … The Lady Dragons committed 21
turnovers. … HCC took advantage of 27 Buster turnovers, scoring 32 points
off turnovers. … Lawrence tied a career-high with two blocked shots. …HCC is
now 51-14 all time against Garden City. … Fessenden now has 814 career
points, 10th most in HCC history. … Fessenden is now alone in third on the
career free-throw list with 243. … Fessenden is now alone in sixth on the
career 3-point list with 104). … Amber Schroer tied Katie Tedder for fifth
on the career blocked shot list with 54. … Schroer moved up to fourth on the
single season blocked shot list with 33.
<HCC
WOMEN-GARDEN CITY BOXSCORE>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John
Ontjes
On the aggressiveness
of the team …
“We were aggressive, and
our kids just made plays and attacked the basket. It was really pleasant to
see the kids get out and get some easy baskets for us in transition.”
On bouncing back …
“I’m sure there weren’t
many people expecting us to come out here and win, but our kids showed great
character after the loss in Barton County, and it gives us a little more
momentum going into the Cloud game. We’re looking forward to a great
matchup on Saturday.”
On Garden City’s
pressure …
“Their pressure allows
them to put up points quickly, and they’ve got kids that can shoot It from
the perimeter. Our kids did a good job of protecting the basketball.”
Freshman Kylee
Naccarato
On the team’s
motivation …
“We weren’t so robotic.
Coach said we just needed to go out and play. We knew going for third place
in the conference that we had something big to play for.”
On the improvement …
“I think it’s the best
we’ve played in a while. We’ve had some rough games, but I think it was key
that we stepped it up tonight and finish the season strong.”
Freshman Hailey
Purcell
On the recent
struggles …
“We went through a
stretch where we were playing pretty bad. I guess tonight we got back to
where we were.” |
