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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Just a week after a disappointing showing in
Tonkawa, Okla., the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team
defeated Northern Oklahoma 72-64 on Saturday at the Sports Arena in the
final women’s game of the 2007 Brooke Insurance Thanksgiving Classic.
Nine days before, Northern Oklahoma handed
HCC its only loss of the season, 81-73.
Hutchinson (7-1) faced many of the same problems that had plagued it in the
previous meeting, turning the ball over 31 times and allowing Northern
Oklahoma to grab 21 offensive rebounds.
The key factor in the improvement was the HCC
defense. It held the Mavericks (7-4) 32.9 shooting from the field (23 of 70)
and to just 35.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. The Lady Dragons also
forced 25 NOC turnovers.
“Defense wins games,” said HCC sophomore
Amanda Fessenden, who had a season-high 27 points. “It’s amazing how we win
with 30 turnovers.”
“We must be doing something right to win with
that many turnovers,” added freshman Kylee Naccarato, who had a season-high
15 points.
Fessenden, who scored the second-most points
in a single game in her HCC career, made only four shots from the field, but
made it to the free-throw line 18 times, converting 16 in a row in the
second half after missing her first two attempts in the first half.
Naccarato, currently the nation’s leader in
3-point efficiency, had another good shooting performance, going 5 of 6 from
the field and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Amber Schroer was the other Lady
Dragon in double figures with 12 points, scoring 10 after halftime. She
also tied sophomore Hailey Purcell with a team-high eight rebounds.
The Lady Dragons shot 44.7 percent overall
(21 of 47) and were 4 of 12 from 3-point range. The Lady Dragons knocked
down 26 of 35 free throws.
Northern Oklahoma guard Amy Pryor, who gouged
HCC for 33 points in the previous meeting was contained, scoring only 16
points, but still shot 4 of 5 from beyond the 3-point line. Preseason
All-American Holly Hardin had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Hutchinson gained control of the game from
the start, building its lead to 16-8 with 10 minutes to play in the first
half. The Lady Dragons then attained their largest lead of the opening half
on a Briyana Evans transition layup for a lead of 23-12. Pryor then made two
3-pointers before the half to cut the HCC lead back to single digits, at
32-24.
Northern Oklahoma slowly worked its way back
into the game in the second half. After a Pryor field goal with 8:51
remaining, the HCC lead was cut down to 47-46.
That was as close as Northern Oklahoma got.
Fessenden went on a personal 11-point run over the next 2 minutes, 36
seconds – eight of the points game on free throws and one 3 pointer – to a
secure 58-46 lead with 6:15 remaining.
The Lady Dragons hit 19 of 23 free throws in
the second half, which helped overcome 16 turnovers in the final 20 minutes,
most coming against Northern Oklahoma’s full-court press.
“We get a little tight, and play not to make
a mistake,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “We’re being a little timid.”
HCC will next play Coffeyville on Saturday,
Dec. 1, in the Jayhawk Shootout that will take place in Coffeyville. On
Sunday, HCC will play Labette.
GAME NOTES
– HCC was able to covert 27 points of 25 NOC turnovers. … NOC scored only 13
points off the turnovers it forced. … Lanikia Lawrence was the only Lady
Dragon not to see action, as she is still injured. … The Northern Oklahoma
bench received a technical foul after disputing a foul call that led to four
HCC points. … NOC hit five second-half 3-point goals to just two in the
first half. … HCC has outrebounded 6 of 8 opponents this season.
<HCC-NORTHERN
OKLAHOMA BOX>
<LABETTE-CROWDER BOX>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the turnovers …
“I don’t know how we’re winning game when we
turn the ball over that often. It we cut the turnovers in half, the game
would be so much different.”
On the overall defense …
“The only reason we win games is we guard and
we fight hard on the boards.”
On offensive improvement …
“We just have to be able to get a shot. We
need to value the ball more.”
Sophomore Amanda Fessenden
On cutting down turnovers …
“When we cut the turnovers in half, we’ll
have more shots.”
Freshman Kylee Naccarato
On how they win …
“Our defensive mentality. We take pride in
our defense.”
On guarding Amy Pryor …
“We face-guarded her, tried to not let her
catch the ball.” |
