[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

LAS VEGAS – Another stellar defensive effort powered the No. 8 Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team to a second wire-to-wire victory at the College of Southern Nevada Holiday Classic on Wednesday.

Hutchinson’s stingy defense fueled a 15-0 run to start the game and the Blue Dragons forced 29 Snow College turnovers as the Blue Dragons dominated the Badgers 87-54 at the Doolittle Recreation Center.

The victory was Hutchinson’s 11th straight as the Blue Dragons improved to 12-1 overall. The Blue Dragons will return to Jayhawk Conference play against No. 18 Cowley Tigers on Jan. 4 at the Sports Arena.

Hutchinson’s defense forced seven turnovers during its initial 15-0 run over the first 5 minutes, 33 seconds of the game. The Blue Dragons went on to force 29 Badger turnovers that led to a 39-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Snow College (5-5) shot 41.9 percent, but cast only 39 shot attempts, 22 shots less than Hutchinson fired up on Wednesday.

Sophomore forward Kirea Rogers returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game and scored a season-high 23 points on 9 of 10 shooting from the field and 5-5 from the free-throw line. Rogers just missed a double-double with nine rebounds and she also had three steals.

Sophomore Taylor Stahly was the only other Blue Dragon to score in double figures with 19 points. Stahly hit 5 of 10 shots from 3-point range to move past Heather Robben (2008-10) into fifth place on the career 3-point list with 139.

Sophomore Inja Butina became the sixth Blue Dragon to reach 300 career assists (302) with a 10-assist performance against the Badgers. That ties for the fourth-most assists in Blue Dragon single-game history. This is the eighth time in Butina’s Hutch career to reach 10 or more assists. Butina added nine points and four steals.

The Blue Dragons shot 28 of 61 overall (45.9 percent), going 9 of 21 from 3-point range and 22 of 23 from the free-throw line. The nine 3-pointers were the second-best total of the season. Hutchinson turned the ball over 14 times and owned a slim 30-27 rebounding advantage.

Harley Hansen had 12 points to lead the Badgers. Tayvia Ah’Quin had 11 points and Madison Mooring had 10. The Badgers were 4 of 12 from 3-point range and 18 of 22 from the free-throw line. The 29 turnovers were a season-worst for Snow College.

Early 3-pointers from Stahly and Lakin Preisner sparked the 15-0 run to start the game. A second Stahly 3-pointer with 4:27 to play in the period capped the 15-point run to start the game. Hutch then went scoreless for nearly 3 minutes as Snow climbed back within 15-6. Hutch withstood that mini-run and when Bride Kennedy-Hopoate scored with 1 minute to play, the Blue Dragons led 19-8. Hutch forced nine Snow turnovers in the first quarter.

Snow pulled within 19-12 with 8:37 to play. Stahly’s third trey of the game ignited a seven-point run as Hutch built a 27-12 lead on a Rogers jumper with 6:09 to go in the half. Three-point goals by Stahly and Butina pushed the Dragon lead to 33-14 with 2:40 left.  Holding Snow to 2 of 10 shooting in the second quarter, the Blue Dragons led 35-16 at halftime.

Hutchinson’s defense and transition game pushed the team over 20 points for the first time early in the third quarter. Layups by Butina, Stahly and Rogers pushing the margin to 41-18 with 8:15 to play in the third quarter. Both teams had good offensive quarters as Hutch outscored Snow 26-20. The Blue Dragons shot 58.3 percent (7 of 12), while Snow shot 7 of 13 (53.8 percent). The Dragons led 61-36 after three periods.

The Dragons’ largest lead of the game came with 3:59 left for a 35-poing lead at 81-46 on a Brianna Bradshaw 3-pointer.

GAME NOTES – This was the first-ever meeting between Hutchinson and Snow College in women’s basketball. … Taylor Stahly reached five or more 3-pointers in a game for the 10th time in her career. … Inja Butina now owns 7 of the top 12 all-time single-game assist performances in program history. … This was the seventh time this season that Hutch has forced 25 or more turnovers. … The Blue Dragons are now 4-0 in Las Vegas with two wins over USU-Eastern Utah and single wins over Salt Lake and Snow College.

[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]

[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]

LAS VEGAS — The No. 8-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team held Utah State University-Eastern without a field goal for more than 12 1/2 minutes to blow their

College of Southern Nevada Holiday Classic matchup open on Tuesday at the Doolittle Recreation Center.

Five players scored in double figures and the Blue Dragon bench played huge as Hutchinson routed USU-Eastern 87-45 for their ninth-consecutive victory.

Hutchinson improves to 11-1 overall and will play Snow College at 5 p.m. on Wednesday (3 p.m. Las Vegas time). Snow loss to Central Arizona 74-66 on Tuesday.

The Blue Dragons led just 6-4 with 5:55 to play in the first quarter after a Kaitlin Toluono 3-pointer. That was Eastern’s last field goal for the next 12 minutes, 41 seconds. The Blue Dragons went on a 24-2 run over that span to break the game open.

Hutchinson’s defense held Eastern to 1 of 12 shooting in the first half in opening a 14-6 lead. The Dragons limited the Eagles to 3 of 13 shooting in a 27-8 second quarter. The Blue Dragons forced 12 first-half turnovers.

Sophomore Taylor Stahly scored a game-high 14 points to lead five Blue Dragons in double figures. Freshman Alicia Brown had 13 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Bride Kennedy-Hopoate finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Blue Dragon bench played huge in outscoring Eastern 41-17. Sophomore Kyla Williams had 12 points and five rebounds. Freshman Kayla Barber hit her first two career 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 12 points. Inja Butina came off the bench to score nine.

The Blue Dragons finished 27 of 61 overall (44.3 percent), knocking down 6 of 20 from 3-point range and 27 of 35 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Eastern 41-37.

The Eagles were limited to 25.5 percent shooting for the game and committed 24 turnovers. Eastern was 14 of 55 overall, 3 of 16 from 3-point range and 14 of 25 from the free-throw line.

Toluono had 14 points to lead the Eagles.

There were only a combined three field goals in the opening quarter as both teams did most of their scoring from the free-throw line. Hutch was 2 of 13 from the field, but 10 of 13 from the free-throw line in the opening 10 minutes. Eastern was 1 of 12 from the floor and only 3 of 8 from the foul line as Hutch led 14-6 after one quarter.

Sophomore Shayla DeGarmo provided a second-quarter spark off the bench for the Blue Dragons. She hit a long 2-point goal and then splashed a 3-pointer on Hutch’s first two possessions of the second quarter to open a 19-6 lead with 8:57 to play in the period.  The Blue Dragons scored the first 16 points of the second quarter and led 30-6 after a Lakin Preisner jumper with 4:20 remaining in the period. The Blue Dragons shot 11 of 16 in the second quarter and built a 41-14 lead at halftime.

Leading 55-20 in the third quarter, the Blue Dragons closed the period on a 13-5 run to lead 68-25. USU-Eastern outscored Hutchinson 20-19 in the fourth quarter.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 2-0 all-time against USU-Eastern all time. … The Blue Dragons improved to 3-0 in the CSN Holiday Classic. … Hutch’s largest lead of the game was 50 at 75-25. … Brenna McClure and Shayla DeGarmo had five assists each to lead HCC, which had 17 assists on 27 makes. … The Blue Dragons held USU-Eastern to single digits in the first and second quarters. That’s the 10th and 11th time this season to do so.