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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Friday, November 23, 2007
The Hutchinson Community College women’s
basketball team bucked an early-season trend by holding a large early lead
and having it never threatened, winning 75-40 over Crowder College on the
first night of the Brooke Insurance Thanksgiving Classic on Friday at the
Sports Arena.
It was the largest margin of victory this
season for HCC (6-1).
Hutchinson was led by sophomore Amanda
Fessenden, who her first double-double of the season and the second of her
career. Fessenden had 14 points to go along with 11 rebounds.
The team did not solely rely on Fessenden,
however, as the Lady Dragons held a 21-12 lead at the time of her first
field goal.
“We were very balanced tonight,” HCC head
coach John Ontjes said. “Hopefully that can help us in teams not
concentrating on just one person.”
“We’ve had some injuries this week so we have
had to practice with different people in,” Morgan Leatherbury said. “Other
people have to step up.”
HCC had no other players in double figures.
Freshmen Brittany Hines, Morgan Leatherbury and Kylee Naccarato all scored
nine points each. Every single Lady Dragon suited up for the contest
scored. Sophomore guard Lanikia Lawrence not playing because of injury.
HCC shot 40.9 percent for the game (27 of
66), and was 6 of 12 from the 3-point arc. Hutchinson also converted 15 of
20 free-throw attempts.
The Lady Dragon defense was once again solid,
holding Crowder to only 31 percent shooting (13 of 42), 21.7 percent (5 of
23) in the second half. Tacora Simmons had a team-high 10 points. Crowder’s
leading scorer, Blaire Larson was held to nine points.
HCC also forced 29 Crowder turnovers to
committing 20, and outrebounded the Lady ’Riders 48-31, 15-4 on the
offensive boards.
“We’re learning that the less turnovers you
make and offensive rebounds you give up, the more you win,” Fessenden said.
Hutchinson got its first double-digit lead of
the game at 19-9 after back to back threes by Hines and freshman Kylie
Sheppard.
Crowder fought back and got within five
points at 21-16 with 9:11 remaining in the half, but Fessenden stretched the
lead back to double digits with a 3-pointer at the 4:38 mark for a 32-21
lead.
After a Crowder score, HCC scored the last 12
points of the half to take a 44-23 lead into the half.
Hutchinson stayed in control for the entire
second half, with the lead dipping below 20 only once, in the first five
minutes.
HCC went on another run for a 52-31 lead at
13:30 to play, scoring the next 12 points to take at the time its largest
lead in the contest.
HCC gained its biggest lead at 70-33 after
two free throws from Brooke Thennes. The action for Thennes was the first
in more than a year, after sitting out with an injury.
The lone negative from the contest was HCC
committing 24 fouls to Crowder’s 20, although the Lady Riders’ could not
take advantage, shooting only 12 of 26 from the line.
“Tonight we were a little flat, but there was
really no flow to the game because we fouled too much,” Ontjes said.
HCC will play the final women’s game of the
Brooke Insurance Thanksgiving Classic against Northern Oklahoma in a 5:30
contest on Saturday. HCC played Northern nine days ago, losing 81-73 in a
33-point effort from Amy Pryor.
GAME NOTES
– The playing time was very evenly distributed for HCC, with the lowest time
total for any one player at 12:26. …Taking care of the ball was a big factor
for the Lady Dragons, dishing out 20 assists to only five for Crowder.
Freshman Lauren Sparks tied a season high with five assists. … HCC’s bench
made sure there was no drop-off, scoring 39 points. Crowder managed only 12
off the bench. … The offensive rebound improvement showed on the
scoreboard, with Crowder only scoring three second-chance points. HCC had
15.
<HCC-CROWDER
COLLEGE BOX>
<LABETTE-NORTHERN OKLAHOMA BOX>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the possibility of his players looking
ahead to Northern Oklahoma …
“I knew in the back of their minds they were
looking forward to playing Northern Oklahoma. It’s going to be a
challenge.”
On the overall team improvement …
“We’re getting better. The ball handling and
passes are improving.”
Sophomore Amanda Fessenden
On the turnovers …
“20 turnovers is a lot, but it’s less than we
have had.”
On the balanced scoring …
“It’s always nice to know when any one is off
we have so many good shooters to pick up the slack.”
Freshman Morgan Leatherbury
On the defense …
“I was happy with our defense. We had too
many turnovers but we did well on defense and that’s what won us the game.” |
