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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Hutchinson Community College women’s
basketball team announced the first two signings of current players to NCAA
Division I letters of intent on Wednesday during a news conference in the
Humiston Center at the Sports Arena.
Amanda Fessenden and Hailey Purcell both
signed letters on Wednesday; Fessenden signing with Florida Gulf Coast
University and Purcell signing with the University of Tennessee-Martin.
“We are going to miss both of these
sophomores very much,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “Amanda was very
versatile to our program. We will miss Hailey’s toughness and ability to
guard. The little things that both brought to our program will be tough to
replace next year.”
Amanda Fessenden
Fessenden will rejoin former HCC head women’s
basketball coach Nathan Daume at Florida Gulf Coast University, a program
that just completed its first season at the Division I level and won its
league tournament and won a first-round WNIT game. Daume was Fessenden’s
head coach at HCC during her freshman season in 2006-07.
“I feel comfortable having coach Daume there
and I really like the way they play. It was a nice fit,” Fessenden said.
“Coach Daume was the one who put my foot in the door there.”
Fessenden’s career at HCC is well documented.
She is the program’s first NJCAA
All-American, earning honorable mention honors this season.
In addition to her All-America honors,
Fessenden was named first team All-Jayhawk West and first-team All-Region
VI.
Fessenden, a 5-foot-9 sophomore from Wichita
(Maize High School), earned her place in team history as one of the best to
ever play for the Lady Dragons with some astounding numbers this past
season. She helped the Lady Dragons go 24-8, tying for the third-most
victories in program history.
During her sophomore season, Fessenden was
the Lady Dragons’ leading scorer at 14.8 points and leading rebounder at 7.5
boards per game. She shot 41 percent from the field, but was 25th in the
nation on 3-point efficiency at 39.3 percent.
Fessenden is fifth in the nation in
free-throw shooting at 86.6 percent and is second in made free throws (162)
and attempts (187). She had four runs of 15 or more consecutive free throws
and established a new team mark with 34 consecutive makes.
“Free throws are my biggest pet peeve,”
Fessenden said. “I get really mad when I miss one.”
She had a season high of 27 points against
Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa and had four games of 20 or more points. She had a
career-high 15 rebounds two times against Cowley College and Dodge City.
Fess wound up No. 3 in single-season free
throws (162), No. 2 in single-season free-throw percentage (86.6). She had
five of her six career double-doubles this season.
For her career, Fessenden was among the top
10 in several statistical categories:
+ No. 9 in career scoring – 865
+ No. 10 in career scoring average – 13.5
+ No. 6 in career 3-point goals – 109
+ No. 6 in career 3-point attempts – 309
+ No. 9 in career 3-point percentage – 35.3
+ No. 2 in career free throws – 269
+ No. 5 in career free-throw attempts – 317
+ No. 1 in career free-throw percentage –
84.9.
Fessenden’s career statistics
Year
G-GS FG FG% 3PT
3PT-% FT
FT% Pts Avg.
Rbs/Avg. Asts BS
Stls
2006-07 32-26 116-301 38.5
50-159 31.4 107-130 82.3
389 12.2 164/5.1 89 4 63
2007-08 32-32 127-310 41.0
59-150 39.3 162-187
86.6 475 14.8 240/7.5 86 5 51
Totals
64-58 243-611 39.8 109-309 53.5
269-317 84.9 865
13.5 404//6.3 175
9 114
Fessenden is the first HCC women’s basketball
player to sign with Florida Gulf Coast. The Fort Myers, Fla., school has
signed two volleyball All-Americans – Roberta Santos and Thais Franca –
after the 2005-06 school year.
Hailey Purcell
Hailey Purcell is the second member of her
family to come to HCC and earn a Division I scholarship. Hailey’s sister,
Natalie (2002-04) moved on to Southeast Missouri State after her two seasons
with the Lady Dragons.
Hailey Purcell proved to be a relentless
player who usually had to defend an opposing player much taller or larger
than the 5-foot-10 forward from Auckland, New Zealand.
“I really liked the coaches and they have
welcomed me a lot,” Purcell said.
During her sophomore year, Purcell averaged
4.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. One of the team’s top defenders and
third-leading rebounder, she became more of a scoring threat later in the
season.
Purcell had her first career double-double
with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Fort Scott in the first round of the
2008 Region VI Tournament.
Purcell had four games of 10 or more
rebounds, including a career-high 14 rebounds in a road victory at Cowley
College in November. Her career scoring high was 12 points against
Scottsdale Community College in late December.
Purcell’s career statistics
Year G-GS FG FG% 3PT
3PT-% FT FT% Pts Avg. Rbs/Avg. Asts
BS Stls
2006-07
32-24
72-187 38.5
20-65 30.8
40-64 62.5 204 6.4
152/4.8 22
1 19
2007-08
32-32
53-167 31.7 7-21 33.3
19-36 52.8 132 4.1 194/6.1 48
9 27
Totals 64-58
125-354 35.3
27-86 31.4 59-100 59.0 336 5.3
346/5.4 70 10 46
Tennessee-Martin is located in Martin, Tenn.,
and is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Purcell is the first HCC player to sign with
Tennessee-Martin and is the fourth player to sign with an OVC school since
2004. Others were Natalie Purcell (Southeast Missouri State), Derrica Jones
(Murray State) and Jacqueline Oliveria (Tennessee State).
“(Natalie) played in that conference and it
kind of sold me on the school,” Purcell said. “She got to the NCAA
Tournament playing in that conference and that made me think I could get
there as well." |
