[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]
Photo courtesy of Joel Powers, HCC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The No. 2-ranked and Jayhawk Conference champion Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team hit a season a season-high 14 3-pointers on Thursday and advanced in the Region VI Tournament with a blowing victory of the Colby Trojans.
The Blue Dragons won their 28th consecutive game to advance to the Region VI Quarterfinals after a 101-37 opening-round victory over Colby at the Sports Arena. The second-seeded Blue Dragons (30-1) will play Barton in the Region VI quarterfinals at 3 p.m. on Monday at Hartman Arena in Park City.
Hutchinson hit the second-most 3-pointers in single-game history by hitting 14 of 23 from long range on Thursday. The Blue Dragons hit a team-record 16 treys last season against Neosho County, also at the Sports Arena.
A bulk of the 3-point shooting came from the trio of Taylor Stahly, Lakin Preisner and Inja Butina.
Stahly knocked down 4 of 7 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 18 points. Stahly now has 198 career 3-pointers, just six shy of breaking Brittany Dietz’s Blue Dragon and Jayhawk Conference record of 203.
Preisner had a season-high four 3-pointers in five attempts to finish with 14 points. Butina was 3 for 4 from distance to finish with 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
Kirea Rogers had a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Alicia Brown came off the bench to added 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting.
The Blue Dragons shot 57.6 percent overall (34 of 59) from the field and 19 of 23 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Colby 41-30
Defensively, Hutchinson held Colby (3-28) to 20.7 percent shooting (12 of 56). The Trojans were 2 of 20 from 3-point range and 11 of 13 from the foul line. Colby had 21 turnovers.
Janea Dennis had 11 points. Amari Barksdale had eight points.
The Blue Dragons blew the game open early with a 25-0 run in the first quarter. Brenna McClure scored with 3:24 to go to give Hutch a 28-3 lead. The Dragons hit 11 of 17 shots, while holding Colby to 2 of 11 from the field in a 35-5 opening quarter. The 35 points were the second most in a quarter this season.
Hutch hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter to outscored Colby 24-14 in the period to lead 59-19 at halftime.