|
By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Freshman Ariella McGhee
posted her third double-double of the season and the Hutchinson Community
College women’s basketball team remained unbeaten by knocking off No.
9-ranked South Plains College, Texas, 65-59 in the final game of the 2008
HCC Women’s Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.
The Lady Dragons (8-0) held
South Plains (11-2) to its second-lowest point total and lowest shot
percentage of the season en route to their first victory over a nationally
ranked opponent this season.
In fact, Hutchinson passed
its first true tests of the year over the weekend, defeating Jayhawk East
power Labette on Friday. Combined, HCC’s defense held South Plains and
Labette to 34.6-percent shooting.
“Our kids are earning
respect from other schools now,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “One of
the things I told them before the game was that the only people who believed
that we could win the game tonight was the 15 players and coaches in this
locker room. They went out and proved that we can play with teams that are
very talented.”
McGhee had 13 points and 15
rebounds for her third double-double in eight games. McGhee’s rebounding
performance was key in HCC outrebounding a quick and big South Plains front
line 42-40.
“They were good at getting
rebounds,” said McGhee, who had her fourth rebounding game of 10 or more
boards. “We had to box them out.”
Freshman Naudia Campbell
added 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Sophomores Brittany
Hines and Briyana Evans and freshman Heather Robben scored nine points each.
Sophomore Lauren Sparks had seven points.
The Lady Dragons shot 37.7
percent overall (20 of 53) and was 3 of 7 from 3-point range (42.9 percent).
HCC’s key stat was going 22 of 26 from the free-throw line, 14 of 17 in the
second half.
“We have a lot of good
free-throw shooters on this team,” Hines said. “When it got down to a
free-throw situation, I knew we had it under control because we have so many
good shooters on the floor.”
South Plains, coached by
former HCC women’s basketball assistant Michelle Wyatt, was held to a
season-low 31.1 percent (19 of 61), going 6 of 13 from 3-point range and 15
of 20 from the free-throw line. Dayon Hall-Jones had a game-high 18 points
to lead the Lady Texans, while leading scorer Taniqua Ards was held to 11
points. Sajoyia Griffin hit three 3-point goals and had 11 points.
After jumping out to a quick
7-2 lead, the Lady Dragons went 5 minutes, 36 seconds without a field goal
and South Plains assumed a five-point lead after a 12-2 run to lead 14-9
with 11:33 to play after two Hall-Jones free throws.
The Lady Dragons answered
that offensive lull with an 11-0 run, getting two big hoops from Evans and a
3-point goal from Sparks to lead 20-14 with 7 minutes to play.
With the game tied at 24-all
late in the first half, the Lady Dragons closed the half on an 8-2 run,
getting a career-first 3-point goal from Evans at the buzzer to take a 32-26
lead at halftime.
In the second half, the Lady
Dragons had an answer for every South Plains challenge.
Early on, Hutch built a
nine-point lead when Sasha King hit Hines with a perfect long-range pass and
Hines’ transition layup gave Hutch a 40-31 lead with 14:08 to play. With the
Lady Texans pulling within four points a few minutes later, Hines may have
hit the biggest shot of the game when she buried a 3-pointer from the left
baseline for a 48-41 lead with 6:35 to go in the game.
The Lady Dragons had just
two more field goals after that, but finished off the victory from the
free-throw line, hitting 13 of 14 free throws in the final six minutes to
finish off the victory.
Hutchinson will now go on
the road for the first time this season, heading to Coffeyville for games
against No. 25 Coffeyville on Dec. 5 and Kansas City on Dec. 7 at the annual
Jayhawk Shootout.
GAME NOTES
– HCC had 17 turnovers. South Plains had 16 turnovers. … This is HCC’s 10th
8-0 start in program history, the first since the 2004-05 season. … HCC is
7-0 when leading at halftime. … McGhee’s double-double was the seventh for
the Lady Dragons this season. … The 22 free throws for HCC tied a season
high. … Brittany Hines tied a season high with four rebounds.
HCC-SOUTH
PLAINS BOXSCORE
LABETTE-BUTLER BOXSCORE
HCC-SOUTH
PLAINS PHOTO GALLERY
OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On South Plains …
“South Plains is very
talented. They are as talented as the Clouds and Sewards in our league.”
On the many individual
contributions …
“Right now everyone
understands their role. They are content if they play 10 minutes, 20 minutes
or 40 minutes. That’s what it takes for us to beat quality teams. You have
to have depth and consistency from top to bottom. This weekend our kids when
given the opportunity stepped up and made plays.”
Freshman Ariella McGhee
On beating No. 9 South
Plains …
“We hope this will open
people’s eyes. Other teams will know that it will be a challenge to play
us.”
Sophomore Brittany Hines
On beating No. 9 South
Plains …
“Sometimes I think we get
underestimated. Tonight we proved something to everyone in the community and
to other teams.”
On the many individual
contributions …
“It’s taken everyone to win
these games. Everyone is contributing. We are putting things together right
now and it’s paying off.”
On defending South Plains
…
“Our defensive goal is to
stay in front of everyone and help the gaps. Their guards were so fast, so
staying in front is what helped is defensively.” |
