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By Bret Mitchell
HCC Sports Information
Sunday, December 2, 2007
COFFEYVILLE - The Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team struggled to
score once again Sunday afternoon and came home from the Jayhawk Shootout
winless after a 62-36 loss to Labette at Nellis Hall East.
It’s the first time since 1992 that the Lady
Dragons went winless in the Shootout. The 36 points were the fewest points
scored by HCC in Shootout history and tied for the ninth fewest points
scored in Lady Dragon history.
The 26-point margin of defeat tied for the
second worst for Hutchinson in Shootout history.
The game was a rematch from the second
contest of the season for HCC (7-3), when the Lady Dragons defeated Labette
80-64.
“We got off to a bad start, we need to take
teams more seriously,” freshman Briyana Evans said.
For the second night in a row HCC had no
scorers in double figures, with sophomore Amanda Fessenden the leader at
nine points.
Highly-touted forward Dana Olsen, the
second-leading scorer in the nation, led the Cardinals with 24 points.
Tercya Ferreira and Brittany Brown were also in double figures with 10
points each.
Hutchinson had its worst outing of the year
to date from the field, shooting just 14 of 60 (a season-low 23.3 percent)
and just 3 of 13 from 3-point range. HCC had only seven free-throw attempts,
making five. The Lady Dragons outrebounded Labette 45-36. Sophomore Hailey
Purcell had a game-high 11 rebounds.
Labette was 23 of 54 shooting (42.6 percent),
6 of 14 from 3-point range and 10 of 15 from the free-throw line.
“When you don’t make baskets, you can’t win
basketball games at the college level,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said.
“We couldn’t make shots, everyone has off
nights,” Fessenden said. “We’ll bounce back and learn.”
Labette started the game with an 8-2 run, and
gained its first double-digit advantage after two Mandy Howerton free throws
for a 14-4 advantage 10 minutes in. Olsen scored her eighth point of the
contest with 7:37 remaining in the first half to give the Cardinals a 23-7
advantage.
Fessenden and sophomore Amber Schroer pulled
the Lady Dragons back to within 10 at 23-13, before Olsen led the Cardinals
on another run; this one was a 10-0 spurt, for a 33-13 Labette advantage
with four minutes remaining in the half.
A Lauren Sparks 3-point basket with 1:42 to
go in the half gave Hutchinson some momentum heading into the locker-room
down 35-20. HCC came out slow out of the locker room, scoring just three
baskets in the first nine minutes of the second half. Labette took
advantage, pushing the lead to 20 at 47-27.
“We played hard, but not with any purpose,”
Ontjes said.
HCC will return to the Sports Arena on Dec.
7, when the Lady Dragons will take on Oklahoma Baptist JV on the opening
night of the Airport Steakhouse Classic.
GAME NOTES
– Fessenden missed her first free-throw opportunity against Labette, ending
her consecutive streak of makes at 18. … Hutchinson cut down on its
turnovers, committing only 17 after committing 30 each in the past two
games. … HCC outrebounded Labette, but only mustered four second chance
points on the 17 offensive rebounds pulled down. … Fessenden scored all nine
of her points in the first half, Evans and Schroer both had four in the
second half to lead HCC.
<HCC-LABETTE
BOXSCORE>
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the team’s roles …
“We just have to understand who needs to take
shots, and when to take them, knowing our roles.”
Freshman Briyana Evans
On the poor shooting …
“We should’ve taken more time and relaxed on
shots. We should have drove to the basket more, get them in foul trouble. |
