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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Sunday, January 25, 2009
COLBY – The Hutchinson
Community College women’s basketball team used a strong second half where it
held Colby to just 23 points and 17-percent shooting to an 82-51 Jayhawk
West victory over the Trojans on Sunday at the Colby Community Building.
The Lady Dragons (17-3, 4-2
Jayhawk West) led 38-28 at halftime and 57-46 with 6:49 to play in the
second half, but finished the game on a 25-5 run.
Hutchinson shot 52 percent
in the second half (13 of 25), while holding Colby to 4 of 23 shooting (17.4
percent). The Lady Dragons also made an impact from the free-throw line,
especially in the final 10 minutes. After shooting just two free throws in
the first half and just five through the first 35 minutes, HCC finished 18
of 19 overall from the lone, 16 of 17 in the second half and 11 of 12 in the
final five minutes.
After being outrebounded in
the last two games, the Lady Dragons also reasserted themselves on the
board, outrebounding Colby (8-13, 3-4) 48-27.
“That’s all we did,”
freshman Brittney Chamberlin said. “Practices were really physical and it
was rebounding drill after rebounding drill. We picked up on our defense
also and the emphasis on our rebounding was really big in this game. We came
out and did pretty well rebounding.”
“We didn’t crash the boards
(against Barton) like we usually do,’ said freshman Ariella McGhee, who had
her eighth double-figure rebounding game of the season. “Tonight we did
that. We worked really hard on rebounding and our defense.”
McGhee posted her seventh
double-double of the season with 21 points and 13 rebound. McGhee was 7 of
11 shooting. She also had two blocked shots and four steals.
Chamberlin tied her season
high with 14 points, hitting three 3-point goals. Chamberlin also had a
season-high seven rebounds.
Freshman Heather Robben had
14 points, seven rebounds and a season-high two blocked shots.
Overall, HCC shot 50 percent
or better for the third-straight game, shooting 29 of 58 (50 percent). HCC
was 6 of 12 from 3-point range. HCC still committed 20 turnovers, but had
seven blocked shots and 15 steals.
“We talked about being a
team that consistently boxes out and we know how important rebounding is,”
HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “Sometimes you lose focus on just how hard
it is to box out every possession and hit your man and rebound. We did a
better job at times. We are still not consistently doing it. We have lapses
where we let other teams back into the game.”
Colby shot just 21.8 percent
overall (12 of 55). The Trojans were 6 of 25 from 3-point range, just 1 of 9
in the second half, and 21 of 24 from the free-throw line. The Trojans had
19 turnovers.
Tasha Wagoner had 16 points
to lead the Trojans. Ashley Ming had 12 points.
Colby kept things
interesting early with three 3-point goals to start the game, the third gave
the Trojans a 9-8 lead with 15:46 to play in the half. HCC then went on a
7-0 run, taking a 15-9 lead on a Sasha King 3-pointer with 14:12 remaining.
Two more 3-pointers and free
throws kept Colby in the game for the next several minutes. Nikki Welsh’s
trey with 6:39 to play cut the Hutchinson lead to 24-22. HCC answered that
challenge with a 14-2 run and led 38-24 after a Robben 3-pointer with 1:18
remaining.
Despite holding Colby
without a field goal for 6 minutes, 11 seconds late in the first half,
Danisha Cole’s steal and layup with 28 seconds left in the half cut the Lady
Dragon lead to 38-28 at halftime.
Hutch’s lead in the second
half fluctuated between nine and 13 points through the first 15 1/2 minutes.
Leading 57-46 with 6:49 to play, the Lady exploded on a 25-5 run. The Lady
Dragons held Colby without a field goal for the final 6:49 with without a
point for the final 3:11 of the game. HCC scored the final 13 points of the
game.
The Lady Dragons will play
host to Pratt at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
GAME NOTES
– This was HCC’s five consecutive victory over Colby. … HCC now 5-1 in road
games. … HCC is 28-12 all-time vs. Colby, 11-7 at Colby. … McGhee had her
third 20-plus point game this season. … The was HCC’s eighth game of
shooting 50 percent or better.
BOXSCORE
PHOTO
GALLERY
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the overall
performance …
“Our kids did some good
things tonight. We took care of the basketball a little better in the second
half against their pressure. We got to the foul line. We’ve worked on
rebounding the last couple of days. We wanted to be physical and to be
aggressive to the basketball.”
On shooting free throws …
“We stepped up there with
some confidence and made them. We kept telling the kids to be aggressive to
the goal. We had only two free-throw attempts in the first half, but we
started to get some calls in the second half.”
Freshman Brittney
Chamberlin
On getting to the line
late in the game …
“Toward the end of the
second half, we were more aggressive going to the basket. We are good
free-throw shooters and we have to take it to the basket more and draw more
fouls to get to the free-throw line.”
Freshman Ariella McGhee
On getting to the line
late in the game …
“We wanted to get to the
line and make our free throws. We took the ball more to the rim in the
second half and created fouls.” |
