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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
EL DORADO – The Hutchinson
Community College women’s basketball team shot 51 percent from the field
while limiting Butler to 18.5 percent shooting in the second half as the
Lady Dragons got out to a quick start and rolled to a 73-41 victory over the
Grizzlies on Wednesday night at Butler’s Power Plant.
The Lady Dragons (16-2, 3-1
Jayhawk West) were 26 of 51 from the field and tied a season high with 10
3-point goals on 24 attempts (41.7 percent). Defensively, the Lady Dragons
were equally impressive, holding Butler to 28.6 percent overall.
HCC handed Butler its first
home loss of the season and it’s the third-straight victory for the Lady
Dragons over the Grizzlies.
“I am very proud of my team
to go on the road against a good Butler squad that plays hard,” HCC head
coach John Ontjes said. “We matched their intensity right from the start and
we communicated well. We were getting to the right spots and shots seemed to
be falling. Everything seemed to be working tonight.”
With the victory, the Lady
Dragons clinched their 33rd winning season in 35 seasons. Ontjes, coaching
in his 50th game at Hutch, reached 40 wins, the second most wins by a Lady
Dragon coach in their first 50 games.
Freshman Heather Robben
scored a game-high 22 points on 7 of 9 shooting, including 3 of 3 from
3-point range, to lead the Lady Dragons. Robben also had a game-high seven
rebounds.
Freshman Brittney Chamberlin
hit three 3-pointers and tied a season high with 14 points. Sophomore point
guard Lauren Sparks had 11 points, tied a season high with 3 pointers.
Sophomore Brittany Hines finished with nine points, but tied a career high
with seven assists.
“It was awesome,” Sparks
said. “We wanted to come back from that (Garden City) game. We knew we had
to have enthusiasm and intensity to win these games. We knew it would be
tough and physical and we really came out focused and we played really
well.”
The Lady Dragons were
outrebounded (37-36) for only the third time this season. HCC committed 17
turnovers, but forced 23 Butler miscues, outscoring the Grizzlies 34-6 in
point off of turnovers.
Overall, Butler (9-8, 1-2)
were just 14 of 49 (28.6 percent), just 2 of 11 from long range and 11 of 25
from the free-throw line. It’s the eighth time this season and the
third-straight game that the Lady Dragons have held an opponent to less then
30 percent shooting in a game.
HCC held the Grizzlies to 5
of 27 shooting and 5 of 19 from the free-throw line in the second half.
Butler was held 24 points below its season scoring average.
“We confused them a little
bit,” Ontjes said. “They weren’t expecting some zone and we mixed it up.
That’s the best communication we’ve had by far. We got down in a stance and
communicated to each other. We contested every shot.”
Raneisha Hunter led the
Grizzlies with 11 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Alysia Hart had
eight points.
Three-point goals by Sparks
and Robben set an early tone for Hutchinson. A 3-pointer by Chamberlin and a
point-blank bucket by Calli Mathews gave HCC its first double-figures lead
at 20-9 with 13:39 to play in the opening half.
The Lady Dragons then went
on a 3½ minute scoring drought, which allowed Butler to go on a modest 6-0
run, cutting the HCC lead to 20-15 on a Hunter bucket with 10:12 to play.
Hutch regained its scoring
touch and cranked up the defensive intensity holding Butler to just one
field goal in a 16-6 run over the next 9 minutes. A Briyana Evans free throw
with 2:57 to play gave the Lady Dragons a 36-21 lead. Mathews then popped a
jumper with 20 seconds left in the half to take a 41-25 halftime lead.
HCC opened the second half
with a 12-3 run over the first 5:27 of the second half to put the game
totally out of reach. The closest the Grizzlies got was 21 points with 11:49
to play. Chamberlin’s 3-point goal with 6:48 to play gave HCC its first
30-point lead at 66-34.
The Lady Dragons will have
its first conference bye on Saturday and will play host to Barton Community
College at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
GAME NOTES
– The Lady Dragons are now 40-26 vs. Butler,
19-15 in El Dorado. … HCC is now 4-1 in road games. … The Lady Dragons are
5-0 when shooting 50 percent or better. … HCC is now 2-1 when getting
outrebounded. … Robben’s 22 points was the eighth 20-point game by an HCC
player this season. There were only four all of last season. … This was
HCC’s ninth win with a 20-plus point margin of victory.
BOXSCORE
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the strategy against
Butler …
“We knew it would be a tough
test. Their kids play so hard. Before the game, all I tried to get our team
to focus on was to play as hard as they could and see what happens. I wanted
them to stay in the present and be positive. The kids really performed.”
On playing against
Butler’s zone …
“We really spread the floor
and got some wide open baskets. Our kids got us off to a great start by
knocking down some 3-pointers. That pulled them out of their zone. Our
guards took care of the basketball and made perimeter baskets.”
On getting the bye week
this Saturday …
“It’s a good time to have a
break. We are still in the race with this road win. Now we need to regroup,
get some rest and clean some things up. “
Freshman Heather Robben
On the strategy against
Butler …
“We’ve had a little more
confidence in what we were doing. We executed really well tonight.”
On HCC’s defensive play …
“It was awesome. We
communicated so well and got down and actually defended, unlike last week.
It was fun.” |
