The seventh-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team forced 39 turnovers to roll past Neosho County on the opening night of the Hutchinson Clinic Classic at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons (3-0) used full-court pressure to overpower the Panthers and cruise to a 75-38 victory.
“When you can force that many turnovers, you are going to get some easy baskets,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “We did that tonight. The press really bothered them. Their kids never really felt comfortable and our kids really did a good job of taking time off the shot clock.”
Hutchinson led 27-4 with 9:14 to play in the first half, using a 16-0 run to break the game open. Neosho County found some offensive flow and outscored HCC 17-8 the rest of the half to cut the Dragon lead to 35-21 at halftime.
Hutchinson got off to another quick start in the second half with a 15-1 run to lead 50-22 with 13:43 to play in the game. The Blue Dragons held Neosho County without a field goal for nearly the first 12 minutes of the second half in building a 60-26 lead with 8:19 to play.
Hutchinson outscored Neosho County 40-17 in the second half, holding the Panthers to 21.4 percent (5 of 23) in the second half.
“We got off to a quick start tonight like we did last Friday night,” Ontjes said. “We had had lot of bounce in our step and made some plays with our press. We really looked to throw the basketball inside early and unselfish early. Then we lost our focus and press. We didn’t loose our focus as much as we did in the second half.”
Sophomore Chelsea Small led four Hutchinson players in double figures with 15 points. Freshman Aja Sorrells and sophomore Kara Lee had 11 points each. Sophomore Jackie Patterson had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Hutchinson shot 43.3 percent (29 of 67) for the game, going 6 of 20 from 3-point range. HCC had 21 turnovers of its own. The Dragons held a 40-36 rebounding advantage.
Alexis Hafenstein hit three 3-point goals and finished with a team-high nine points to lead Neosho County.
Hutchinson will play Marshalltown (Iowa) at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Neosho County will play Barton at 1:30 p.m.
(HCC Sports Information)