LAS VEGAS, (NV) – The Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team makes its 10th Holiday Tournament appearance in program history beginning on Sunday with its first appearance in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.
The No. 2-ranked Blue Dragons face stern tests in their final two non-conference games of the season. At 1 p.m. (PST) on Sunday, the Blue Dragons meet No. 11 Salt Lake Community College (12-3). At Noon (PST) on Monday, the Blue Dragons take on unranked Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah (12-3). The games will be played at the College of Southern Nevada’s Cheyenne Campus’ CSN Sports Center.

The HCC women make their return to the airwaves as Blue Dragon basketball flagship station  KHUT-FM (102.9) will air Sunday’s game vs. Salt Lake live beginning at 2:50 p.m. (Hutchinson time). Monday’s game will also be on KHUT, but on tape delay at 7 p.m. Both games will be videostreamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network beginning 10 minutes before tipoff.

Hutchinson (12-0) will take the court on Sunday for the first time in 15 days. On Dec. 13, the Blue Dragons ran their home-court winning streak to 109 games and non-conference regular-season win streak to 61 games after a 93-51 victory over Northwest Tech in the KFSA Classic.

The Blue Dragons lead the nation in field-goal percentage at 50.3 percent.

No. 11 Salt Lake last played on Dec. 18 when the Bruins had a nine-game winning streak snapped after a 75-67 home loss to Snow College. Salt Lake owns quality victories over Central Arizona, defending Division II national champion Mesa and USU-College of Eastern Utah.

College of Eastern Utah has won two straight games. The Golden Eagles are third in the NJCAA in made 3-pointers per game (10.0) and 3-point attempts (33.5 percent).

2014 Las Vegas Classic
Game 13 – No. 2 Hutchinson (12-0) vs. No. 11 Salt Lake (13-2)
Date: Sunday, December 28, 2014
Tipoff: 1 p.m. PST (3 p.m. Hutchinson time)
Site: CSN Sports Center (Capacity: 300), Las Vegas, NV
Live Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), 2:50 p.m.
Live Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 2:50 p.m.
Internet Stream and Live Stats: www.bluedragonsports.com, 2:50 p.m.

Game 14 – No. 2 Hutchinson vs. College of Eastern Utah (13-2)
Date: Monday, December 29, 2014
Tipoff: Noon PST (2 p.m. Hutchinson time)
Site: CSN Sports Center (Capacity: 300), Las Vegas, NV
Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9), 7 p.m. (Tape Delay)
Live Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 11:50 a.m.
Internet Stream and Live Stats: www.bluedragonsports.com, 11:50 a.m.

2014 Las Vegas Classic Site/Game Information
Site: College of Southern Nevada Cheyenne Campus, 3200 East Cheyenne Ave, North Las Vegas, NV
Venue: CSN Sports Center
Sunday Game time: 1 p.m. PST (3 p.m. Hutchinson time)
Monday Game time: Noon PST (2 p.m. Hutchinson time)

About the Blue Dragons
+ The Blue Dragons leads the Jayhawk West and are 10th in the NJCAA in scoring offense at 85.1 points per game. Hutchinson leads the nation in field-goal percentage at 50.3 percent, shooting 50 percent or better in 6 of the last 7 games. HCC is shooting 31.2 percent from the 3-point line, averaging 4.9 made treys per game. The Dragons are shooting 71.5 percent from the free-throw line.

+ Defensively, the Blue Dragons are tops in the Jayhawk West and are 12th in the nation in scoring defense allowing 50.6 points per contest. Over the last four games, HCC is allowing 46.3 points per contest. The Blue Dragons lead the league and are No. 2 in the nation in field-goal defense at 29.0 percent. Opposing teams are shooting 27.4 percent, allowing 6.3 made treys per game.

+ Sophomore forward Kalani Purcell is off to a dazzling start with eight double-doubles and the only triple-double in program history. The future BYU Cougar is fourth in the Jayhawk Conference in scoring at 19.6 points per game (22nd in NJCAA). She is second in the league in field-goal percentage at 62.3 percent (9th in NJCAA). Purcell is 2nd in the league at 11.1 rebounds per game (17th in NJCAA). Purcell shoots 66.0 percent from the foul line.

+ Freshman Cynthia Petke is Hutchinson’s second-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game (12th in Jayhawk). Petke is shooting 59.2 percent from the floor, which is fourth in the KJCCC. She is 64.2 percent from the foul line. Petke has had five double-doubles this season.

+ Freshman Clemence LeFebvre is HCC’s third-leading scorer at 13.6 points per game (19th in Jayhawk). She is shooting 45.0 percent for the season, snapping a five-game-stretch of just 34 percent shooting with a 6-of-9 performance on Dec. 13 against Northwest Tech. LeFebvre is sixth in the league in free-throw percentage at 84.9 percent.

+ Sophomore Sydney Benoit has three 20-point games this season and is fourth in scoring at 10.6 points per game. Benoit is shooting 38 percent from 3-point range with a team-high 19 3-point goals. She shoots 66.7 percent from the free-throw line.

+ The Blue Dragons are getting 20.0 points per game off the bench. Sophomore Taylor Jones is HCC’s leading scorer off the bench at 8.5 points per game, shooting 51.8 percent overall and 45.0 percent from 3-point range. After missing the first eight games because of injury, sophomore Shakira Harding is averaging 6.8 points off the bench. Freshman Mandy Madden averages 4.5 points off the bench.

+ The Blue Dragons lead the Jayhawk Conference and are No. 6 in the NJCAA in rebounding at 50.4 rebounds per game. The Dragons are grabbing 16.8 offensive rebounds. HCC allows 27.7 total rebounds and 8.9 offensive rebounds per game. In addition to Purcell, Petke is averaging 10.9 rebounds (4th in Jayhawk). Benoit averages 6.9 rebounds and LeFebvre averages 4.9 rebounds.

+ Hutchinson is No. 1 in both the Jayhawk and No. 3 in the NJCAA in assists at 22.8 per game. Purcell averages 5.5 assists per game, LeFebvre averages 4.2 assists per game and sophomore Alyx Bloom average 3.1 per game.

+ In comparison to other seasons, the 2014-15 Blue Dragons aren’t forcing as many turnovers this season at 18.4 takeaways per game. HCC is averaging 17.3 turnovers.

+ Hutch is No. 5 in the league in steals at 10.8 per game. Purcell averages 3.2 steals per game. HCC has five players averaging at least one steal per game.

+ The Dragons are second in the Jayhawk West in blocked shots at 3.8 rejections per game. Purcell leads the team with 1.2 blocks per game.

Scouting Salt Lake
+ The No. 11-ranked Bruins come into the Las Vegas Holiday Classic with a 12-3 record, but saw their eight-game win streak come to an end with a 75-67 home league loss to Snow College on Dec. 18 in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake is 2-1 in conference play with decisive wins over Colorado Northwestern and Western Wyoming.

+ The Bruins will also play Seward County in the Classic on Monday.

+ The Bruins are averaging 76.3 points per game. They are 14th in the NJCAA in field-goal percentage at 46.1 percent. Salt Lake averages 5.6 made 3-pointers per game and shoots 34.4 percent from long range. Salt Lake is shooting 59.8 percent from the foul line.

+ Until the Dec. 18 loss to Snow, Salt Lake was averaging a winning margin of 33.4 points in its seven previous games.

+ Defensively, Salt Lake is averaging 55.1 point per game. Opponents are shooting 36.0 percent overall and 30.4 percent from 3-point range with average of 4.4 makes from deep.

+ Four Bruins average in double figures led by freshman guard Shelby Richards at 13.3 points per game. Richards is shooting 42.4 percent overall, 31.7 percent from 3-point range and 53.2 percent from the foul line. Richards averages 4.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

+ Sophomore guard Raushan Gultekin shooting 47.7 percent from long range and averages 12.7 points per game. Overall Gultekin shoots 49.2 percent overall and 79.6 percent from the foul line. She has a team-high 4.6 assists per game.

+ Sophomore forward Cassidy Whitney averages 11.3 points per game, shooting 48 percent from the floor. Whitney averages a team-high 7.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

+ Sophomore forward Tanesha Daniels averages 10.7 points shooting a team-high 61.4 percent from the floor. She averages 5.1 rebounds per game.

+ Salt Lake is averaging 40.9 rebounds and 14.4 offensive rebounds per game. The Bruins allow 32.5 total and 9.7 offensive rebounds per game.

+ The Bruins turn the ball over 15.4 turnovers, while forcing 19.4 turnovers per game. Salt Lake also averages 17.7 assists, 12.1 steals and 1.9 steals per game.

Scouting College of Eastern Utah
+ Located in Price, Utah, Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah, enters the Las Vegas Classic with a 12-3 overall records, winning a pair of league games on Dec. 18 and 20 over College of Southern Idaho and North Idaho College, respectively.

+ The Golden Eagles like shooting the 3-pointer. They are third in the NJCAA in made 3-pointers (10.0 per game) and 3-point attempts (33.5). Eastern Utah is shooting 29.9 percent from distance.

+ Overall, the Golden Eagles are averaging 77.7 points per game offensively, shooting 36.8 percent from the floor. College of Eastern Utah is sixth in the NJCAA in free-throw percentage at 74.1 percent.

+ Sophomore guard Bryanna Adams is College of Eastern Utah’s leading scorer at 15.1 points per game. She shoots 44.4 percent overall, 36.8 percent from the arc and 76.5 percent from the foul line. Adams averages 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.

+ Freshman guard Barbara Cousino averages 11.9 points. She averages a team-high 2.4 3-pointers per game shooting 37.0 percent from long range. Overall, Cousino shoots 40.0 percent overall and 82.8 percent from the foul line. Cousino averages 4.3 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.

+ Sophomore guard Maddy Murphy averages 10.8 points per game on 34.8 percent shooting, 85.7 percent from the foul line. Murphy averages 3.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

+ Sophomore guard Jamie Smith is fourth in scoring at 10.7 points, averaging right at two 3-pointers per game and 30.6 percent from the 3-point line. Smith averages 5.1 rebounds and a team-high 4.6 assists per game.

+ The Golden Eagles are a minus-3.4 in rebounding margin. Eastern Utah averages 46.3 total and 18.1 offensive rebounds per game. They allow 49.7 total and 18.1 offensive rebounds per game. Freshman center Jessica Anderson is CEU’s leading rebounder at 6.8 rebounds per contest.

+ Eastern Utah is forcing 22.4 turnovers per game. The Golden Eagles give the ball up an average of 17.7 per game. ECU also averages 15.1 assists, 11.5 steals and 3.9 blocks per game. Anderson blocks 2.6 shots per contest.

Series Histories vs. Las Vegas Classic foes
The Las Vegas Classic matchups with Salt Lake and College of Eastern Utah will be the first meetings ever between the Blue Dragons and those schools.

In fact, of the 1,195 games played in Blue Dragon women’s basketball history, the Las Vegas Classic matchups will only be the second and third games against Region XVIII teams.

The only other meeting with a Region XVIII team came at the Palomar Holiday Classic in 2008 when Dixie State College defeated the Blue Dragons 78-74 in overtime.

(HCC Sports Information)

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