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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
After two grueling road
victories against nationally ranked competition in the past five days, the
weary Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team found out earlier
on Wednesday that it had returned to the NJCAA Top 25.
Later on Wednesday, the
16th-ranked Lady Dragons took care of business against Dodge City at the
Sports Arena, winning 73-29 and sending the Conquistadors to their 17th
consecutive loss.
“Our goal tonight was to
play everyone and get equal minutes for every player so we are well rested,”
HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “We have to go to Garden City on Saturday
and it will be our fourth game in eight days.”
The Lady Dragons (21-3, 8-2
Jayhawk West) remain in a three-way tie for first place with Barton and
Cloud County. Hutchinson’s 8-2 Jayhawk West start ties for the third-best
league start after 10 games in program history, matching last season’s 8-2
record.
All 10 HCC players had at
least 17 minutes of playing time and all 10 scored in the game.
Freshman Heather Robben had
a team-high 11 points with four assists and two steals. Freshman Ariella
McGhee had 10 points and nine boards.
Freshman Brittney Bell had
nine points and a season-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Brittany Hines had
nine points and four steals and freshman Brittney Chamberlin had nine
points.
The Lady Dragons shot 46.4
percent overall (26 of 56) and was 3 of 6 from 3-point range. HCC was 18 of
26 from the free-throw line. The Lady Dragons outrebounded Dodge City 47-29
and had 18 steals.
“We weren’t as sharp as we
have been in the last two games, which was to be expected,” Ontjes said.
“Dodge City came in and did some good things. They are much improved from
the last time we sat them. It was a physical game. All the kids got good
minutes and we did what we needed to do tonight.”
“We had to get this win for
conference,” said sophomore Briyana Evans, who had seven points and a career
high-tying five steals. “We wanted to be sharp and get this win. We did well
offensively. Everybody got to play.”
Dodge City (4-20, 0-10) was
held to just nine field goals, which ties for the fewest allowed in a game
this season. The Conquistadors were just 2 of 17 shooting in the second
half.
Overall, Dodge City was 9 of
42 shooting (21.4 percent), just 2 of 9 from 3-point range and 9 of 24 from
the free-throw line. The Conquistadors turned the ball over 28 times. Robin
Parker had a double-double with a game-high 14 points and 12 rebounds.
“We were physically tired
after those two games, but we were still mentally ready,” Bell said. “We
don’t take anybody lightly and prepare for the next team that we play.”
Hutchinson, which set a
school record by shooting 68.3 percent in the first meeting against Dodge
City, shot 57.1 percent in the first half in building a 41-18 halftime lead.
HCC led just 20-12 at the
mid-point of the first half before closing the opening 20 minutes on a 21-6
run. Robben hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left and Hines scored in
transition from a Lauren Sparks’ assist with 1 second to play to lead by 23
at intermission.
The Lady Dragons weren’t
nearly as sharp in the second half, but still outscored Dodge City 32-11,
which tied for the fewest points the Lady Dragons allowed in a single half.
HCC was just 10 of 28 in the
second half, but was never threatened. A Sparks layup with 17:54 to play
gave the Lady Dragons their first 30-point lead at 51-21. With Hutch leading
55-28, the Lady Dragons outscored Dodge City 18-1 over the final 9:26 of the
game.
The Lady Dragons will close
out their four-game-in-eight-day stretch on Saturday at Garden City.
GAME NOTES
– This was Hutchinson’s sixth-straight win over Dodge City. … The Lady
Dragons are now 50-25 all-time vs. Dodge City, including 24-12 at the Sports
Arena. … McGhee now has 224 rebounds this season. She jumped from ninth to
sixth on the HCC freshman rebounding list. … Robben currently has a
free-throw percentage of 84.5 percent, which ties Brittany Dietz for first
on the freshman FT percentage list and fifth on the single-season list.
Robben now has 87 free throws, which ties her with Dietz for sixth on the
freshman list. … The 29 points allowed is the second-lowest total allowed in
the series with Dodge City. … This is the 12th time this season that HCC has
held an opponent to less than 30 percent shooting.
BOXSCORE
PHOTO GALLERY
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On finishing games …
“We can’t have stretches of
2, 3 or 4 minutes where we have sloppy play. It allowed Seward County to get
back in the game. If we can get rid of those stretches, it makes finishing
games a lot easier.”
Sophomore Briyana Evans
On getting ready for
Dodge City after the two big road wins …
“You can’t every
underestimate teams. We had to prepare well and night take them lightly.”
Freshman Brittney Bell
On closing out this
week’s grind of games …
“It will be nice to get a
little break. We are still working hard everyday until the season is over.” |
