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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Saturday, November 15, 2008
It was a tale of two halves
on Saturday night for the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball
team in the final game of the women’s Airport Steakhouse Classic at the
Sports Arena.
HCC shot just 26 percent in
the opening half, but rebounded to shot nearly 52 percent in the second half
as the Lady Dragons rolled to a 70-47 victory over Eastern Oklahoma State.
Hutchinson led just 25-21 at
halftime, but outscored the Mountaineers 45-26 in the second half to earn
their second largest victory of the season and the first win over Eastern
Oklahoma State in three all-time meetings.
“We started pressing in the
second half with a man-to-man press,” said sophomore Brittany Hines, who
started the second-half rally. “We also starting picking it up on offense in
the second half because we started realizing where we could move around and
get the ball to the basket against the zone.”
The Lady Dragons (4-0)
struggled mightily in the first half against a 2-1-2 Mountaineer zone
defense to the tune of 8 of 30 shooting (26.7 percent). HCC also had 12
first-half turnovers and didn’t score a field goal for the final 5 minutes,
50 seconds of the first half.
Hutchinson got an early
break in the second half when Eastern’s top scorer, Shantoya Fisher fouled
out with 17:50 left in the game. HCC led by seven at that point and took
advantage of the Fisher disqualification, breaking the game open with a 22-4
run over the next 7 1/2 minutes.
HCC wound up shooting 51.9
percent in the second half (14 of 27), including 4 of 11 from 3-point range
after missing all five long-range attempts in the first half. The Lady
Dragons were also a perfect 13 of 13 from the free-throw line in the final
20 minutes.
“Our kids stepped up and
made some baskets in the second half,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “We
had some opportunities in the first half and didn’t convert. Our perimeter
kids in the first half didn’t play with much confidence and in the second
half, they stepped up and made some baskets from the perimeter.”
Hutchinson was 22 of 57
overall (38.6 percent) for the game, 4 of 16 from 3-point range and a
season-best 22 of 26 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Briyana Evans had
a season-high 14 points with four rebounds and three steals to lead the Lady
Dragons. Freshman Heather Robben had eight of her 12 points in the second
half. Hines had all nine of her points in the second half. Freshmen Ariella
McGhee and Sasha King had eight points each and freshman Brittney Chamberlin
finished with seven points.
HCC outrebounded Eastern
Oklahoma State 47-24, but committed a season-high 29 turnovers.
“First half, they were in a
2-3 zone and our shots weren’t going in,” Evans said. “We started hitting
shots in the second half and they got out of the zone. After they got out of
the zone, we started getting easier shots.”
The Lady Mountaineers (2-4)
finished shooting 28.0 percent (14 of 50), the third time in four games that
the Lady Dragons have held an opponent to less than 30-percent shooting.
Eastern was 3 of 11 from the 3-point line and 16 of 24 from the free-throw
line.
Kelli Adams had a team-high
13 points to lead the Mountaineers. Fisher had 12 points and 11 rebounds
before fouling out. Tarra Kania had 10 points. The Mountaineers had 28
turnovers.
HCC led 15-10 at the 6:35
mark of the first half when HCC went on a 7-0 run that was capped off by a
transition Lauren Sparks’ layup to give Hutchinson a 22-10 lead with 5:50 to
play in the half.
That turned out to be the
Lady Dragons’ final field goal of the first half. Eastern closed the half on
an 11-3 run, but HC led 25-21 at halftime.
Hines’ 3-pointer to open the
second half seemed to ignite the Lady Dragons offensively. But the fifth
foul on Fisher was the pivotal moment of for the Lady Dragons. HCC led 30-23
at that point. A Hines bucket with 16:49 left capped a second-half opening
9-2 run.
With Hutch leading 34-27,
the Lady Dragons broke the game open with an 18-0 run over the next 5:23 to
lead 52-27 with 10:19 to play. Eastern followed that with a 10-0 run to pull
within 52-37 with 7:46 left. Chamberlain answered that with a personal
seven-point run, pushing the lead back to 20 (59-39) after a 3-pointer with
4:35 to play.
The Lady Dragons will play
host to the Bethany College JV at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
GAME NOTES
– Briyana Evans was the fourth different player to lead the Lady Dragons in
scoring. … The Lady Dragons had 57 turnovers in the two Airport Steakhouse
Classic games. … Ariella McGhee had her third rebounding game of 10 or more,
pulled down 11 boards. … HCC tied a season high with 17 steals.
BOXSCORE
CLOUD COUNTY-NEOSHO
COUNTY BOXSCORE
PHOTO
GALLERY
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On Briyana Evans …
“Bri did a good job of
getting up and pressuring the ball and getting turnovers and converting them
into points in the second half. Bri has just got to slow down and use her
quickness. She has to be patient and make good decisions for us.”
Sophomore Briyana Evans
On her team role …
“I want to attack the basket
when its open and make shots and go after the rebounds.”
Sophomore Brittany Hines
On Briyana Evans …
“Bri has so much potential.
She is one of the most athletic people I have ever seen. She plays so hard
and works really hard. She can be so good.” |
