For just the second time in the program’s 40-year history, the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team placed two players on an NJCAA All-America team.
Released Thursday by the national office in Colorado Springs, Colo., sophomore Jamie Patrick was named to the 2014 All-America third team in Division I. Freshman forward Kalani Purcell was on the honorable mention list.
Patrick and Purcell become the seventh and eighth NJCAA All-Americans in Lady Dragon history. All eight have come under the tutelage of head coach John Ontjes.
Patrick and Purcell join Jackie Patterson and Laura Patrick – they were first- and second-team, respectively in 2012 – as the only players to be named to an All-America team in the same season.
The 2013-14 Lady Dragons went 35-1 this season, losing to Trinity Valley in the NJCAA Tournament championship game in March at Salina.
JAMIE PATRICK – THIRD TEAM
Patrick concluded her Lady Dragon career as the program’s all-time and single-season scoring leader. Patrick and her 2014 sophomore teammates finished their careers with a 71-3 record and finished of third place and national runner-up in two trips to the NJCAA Tournament.
A 5-10 guard from Hutchinson Central Christian, Patrick as the 2013-14 Lady Dragons’ leading scorer averaging 17.4 points per game (seventh best in team history for a single season). Patrick totaled a record 626 points as a sophomore, shooting 52.7 percent from the field overall, 38.2 percent from 3-point range and 79.5 percent from the free-throw line. Patrick also averaged 5.8 rebounds and had 84 assists, 67 steals and 16 blocked shots.
Patrick totaled 12 20-plus point games, including a career-high 38 points against Northwest Kansas Tech, which tied for the third-most points in Lady Dragon history. Patrick had six 3-pointers in that game, which tied for the fourth-most in single-game history.
Her 228 made field goals rank third in single-season history. She had 65 3-pointers, which tied for 13th in a season. Patrick had three of her five career double-doubles this past season.
Named to the NJCAA Tournament All-Tournament team, the two-time all-Jayhawk West performer was named the conference’s Player of the Week twice. Patrick earned one NJCAA National player of the week honor this past season.
In her career, Patrick ranks in the Top 10 of 10 statistical categories.
Her 1,098 career points surpassed Heather Robben’s career record total this season. Patrick also ranked second in made field goals (397), field-goal attempts (763), overall field-goal percentage (52.0 percent), sixth in career 3-pointers (132), third in career 3-point attempts (332), fourth in 3-point percentage (39.8 percent) and fifth in career free throws (79.3 percent). Patrick finished with 404 rebounds, 170 assists, 119 steals and 41 blocked shots.
KALANI PURCELL – HONORABLE MENTION
At 6-foot-2, people expected Kalani Purcell to be a scorer and rebounder. But very quickly, Blue Dragon fans became accustomed to the Hamilton, New Zealand native’s passing and defensive prowess as well.
Purcell became just the third Lady Dragon ever to average a double-double at 13.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. The agile post player shot 52.0 percent from the field.
Purcell tied a season record with 18 double-doubles this season, posting four double-doubles in four NJCAA national tournament games. During the 2014 national Tournament, Purcell averaged 21.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.5 steals and shot 54.2 percent from the field in earning all-tournament honors.
Purcell set a Hutchinson single-game rebounding record with 22 against Barton in January. The HCC freshman had a season-high 26 points in the NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals vs. Tyler Junior College. Purcell had 20 games of 10 or more rebounds. She scored 492 points, which ranked third-best by an HCC freshman ever.
Her 371 rebounds are second most on the single-season and freshman lists, missing Ariella McGhee’s record by five rebounds. Her 10.3 per-game average is second on the freshman list and third on the season list. Purcell is only the fourth Lady Dragon to average 10 or more rebounds for a season.
Purcell set a freshman record and ranked second in steals with 129. That already ranks 11th on the HCC career steals list. Purcell had 12 games of five or more steals with a career high eight against Northwest Kansas Tech.
Purcell set a freshman record and ranked third in blocked shots with 48.
The HCC forward tallied 135 assists in her freshman season, which ranked sixth on the freshman list and 15th on the season list. But Purcell ranked No. 1 in assists among all post players in program history. She had 15 games of five or more assists with a career high seven against both Neosho County and Colby.
Purcell was a three-time Jayhawk Conference Player of the Week and earned one NJCAA National Player of the Week honor.
(HCC Sports Information)