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HCC Sports Information
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
BEIJING – Former Hutchinson
Community College women’s basketball player Natalie Purcell scored five
points, but host team China defeated New Zealand 80-63 at the 2008 Summer
Olympic games.
Purcell is the first HCC
female athlete to compete in the Olympics. She was an All-Jayhawk Conference
performer for the Lady Dragons in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
New Zealand is now 1-2 in
Group B. Only four of the six teams make it to the medal round, which begins
next week. For New Zealand to make the medal round, it will have to defeat
the Czech Republic on Friday. Both teams are 1-2 in pool play. New Zealand
closes pool play with the gold-medal favored United States on Sunday.
Purcell hit 2 of 4 shots,
including a 3-point goal in her 10 minutes, 52 seconds of playing time
against China. She also had three rebounds.
Purcell’s sister Charmian
scored six points.
New Zealand was doomed by a
slow start, trailing 26-18 after one quarter and only scoring 13 points in
the second quarter to trail 48-31 at halftime. New Zealand matched China
point for point in the second half.
Purcell is HCC’s first
Olympian since Steve Fritz finished fourth in the decathlon at the 1996
Atlanta games.
New Zealand’s Women’s Basketball Team’s
Olympic Schedule
(Times are Hutchinson times)
Game 1 – Mali
W, 76-72
(Boxscore)
Game 2 – Spain
L, 85-62
(Boxscore)
Game 3 – China
L, 80-63
(Boxscore)
Game 4 – Czech Republic
L, 90-59
(Boxscore)
Game 5 – United States Sunday, August 17 9:15
a.m. |
