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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Hutchinson Community
College women’s basketball team had one if its best defensive performances
of the season on Wednesday night in an 80-26 Jayhawk West victory over Pratt
at the Sports Arena.
The Lady Dragons had
defensive season lows in points allowed; including allowing a season-low 11
points in the second half. Pratt had just nine total field goals, which is
also a season low for the HCC defense.
“The effort was tremendous
tonight,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “Communication got better as the
game went along. Our kids are hopefully picking up our defensive principles
better and it showed. We gave up 15 points in the first half and 11 in the
second half.”
“We worked hard,” freshman
Sasha King added. “Our goal was to keep them to 13 in the second half and we
held them to 11, so we did what we were supposed to do.”
The Lady Dragons (18-3, 5-2
Jayhawk West) held Pratt to just 9 of 39 shooting (23.1 percent), just 1 of
10 from 3-point range and 7 of 13 from the free-throw line. HCC held Pratt’s
leading scorer, Wyneisha Webb, to just four points on 2 of 11 shooting. The
Beavers (8-13, 1-6) had 20 turnovers.
It was the fourth time this
season that Hutchinson has held an opponent to less than 40 points in a game
and the 10th time to limit an opponent to less than 30-percent shooting.
The 54-point margin of
victory was the third largest in the series against Pratt. HCC defeated
Pratt by 82 (93-11) in 1975 and 61 (77-16) in 1978.
“The reason we were so
successful is that we worked a lot on our help defense and we worked a lot
on their main offense,” sophomore Brittany Hines said. “We knew it well
enough to get to the right spots and to get to helping spots.”
Freshman Ariella McGhee had
her eighth double-double of the season with 16 points on 8 of 14 shooting
and 12 rebounds. This was McGhee’s third double-double in Jayhawk West play.
Hines had a solid night,
shooting 5 of 6 from the field, finishing with 14 points. King scored in
double figures for the first time in five games, tallying 11 points. Heather
Robben finished with nine points and four assists.
HCC had its three-game
streak of shooting 50 percent or better halted, but the Lady Dragons shot
46.5 percent overall (33 of 71) and was 5 of 15 from 3-point range. Hutch
was 9 of 15 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Dragons dominated
on the boards, outrebounding the Beavers 50-25 with 23 offensive rebounds,
eight by McGhee. HCC also had a season-low seven turnovers and had 13 steals
and 22 assists.
“The kids made extra passes
tonight and played unselfish,” Ontjes said. “It’s always more enjoyable to
watch that kind of basketball.”
Ashton Stout and Lindsee
Bachicha had five points each to lead Pratt.
The pace was slow early. HCC
scored the first six points, but a 7-2 Pratt run pulled the Beavers to
within 8-7 on a Webb bucket with 14:44 to play. The Lady Dragons went on a
10-2 run after than to build an 18-9 lead with 10:11 to play in the half.
Pratt scored with 8:47 to
play to trim the margin back to 18-11 and it was all HCC from that point.
Hutchinson outscored Pratt 62-14 over the final 25 minutes, 45 seconds of
the game.
HCC closed the first half on
a 16-4 run, holding Pratt to just one field goal in the final 8:47 of the
half and to just 6 of 22 shooting in the first half. The Lady Dragons led
34-15 at halftime.
Pratt outscored Hutch 7-4 in
the first 4 minutes of the second half to pull within 16 at 38-22 with 15:51
to play. HCC then put the game away with a 14-0 run, taking a 52-22 lead on
a Hines 3-pointer with 9:59 to play in the game.
Stout’s field goal with 7:44
to play was Pratt’s last of the game. HCC held the Beavers scoreless for 7
minutes, 12 seconds and finished with 21 unanswered points before Bachicha
hit the second of two free throws for Pratt with 32 seconds left to play.
Pratt was just 3 of 17
shooting in the second half and Hutchinson outscored the Beavers 46-11 in
the final 20 minutes.
The Lady Dragons now go on
the road for three of the next four games, traveling to No. 10 Cloud County
for a 2 p.m. tipoff at the Thunderdome in Concordia. The game time was
changed from 6 p.m. to 2 p.m. to accommodate both teams having to travel on
Monday.
GAME NOTES
– HCC is now 58-9 all-time vs. Pratt, 30-3 at
the Sports Arena. … The Lady Dragons are 12-2 at home this season, 2-2 in
Jayhawk West games at the Sports Arena. … HCC outscored Pratt 34-5 in points
off turnovers, 19-2 in second-chance points and 39-9 off the bench. … McGhee
is now just three rebounds shy of reaching 200 for the season.
BOXSCORE
PHOTO
GALLERY
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On his team’s defensive
effort …
“Our kids were in better
position tonight. We were in better stances. It was just an all-around great
defensive effort by our team.”
On the effects of the
defensive intensity exhibited on Wednesday night …
“They are starting to
understand the importance of being a good defensive team. We have an
opportunity to go to Cloud on Saturday and get back into the race. If we can
go and play to our ability, we have a chance to give Cloud a basketball
game.”
Freshman Sasha King
On the team’s defensive
effort …
“We’ve been working on
help-side defense because in general we haven’t been playing (defense) as a
team. Now we are starting to get it. We are all talking more. It really
makes a difference.”
On having 22 assists as a
team …
“We were making plays as a
team. When we would get doubled, we’d kick it out and make extra pass. And
we were finishing shots tonight.”
Sophomore Brittany Hines
On raising the level of
play with a tough stretch ahead …
“There is only a few of us
who knows what it’s like at Cloud and Seward. We know we have a lot to deal
with on Saturday, so we know we need to be prepared.”
On having 22 assists as a
team …
We are a really good
transition team. When we get in that situation, we pass the ball really
well. |
