AUDIO RECAP

SALINA – Freshman Jamie Patrick’s sixth offense rebound of the night was her biggest as she was fouled with 2.0 seconds remaining in regulation and subsequently buried two free throws to break that tie with Northwest Florida State College and propel the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team into the Final Four for the second-straight year.

Patrick buried both free throws to cap off a career-high 25-point night and then sophomore Aja Sorrells intercepted the Raiders long inbound pass as No. 3 Hutchinson outlasted No. 5 Northwest Florida State 73-31 in the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Bicentennial Center in Salina.

Hutchinson (35-1) moves into the national semifinals for the second-straight season. That game will be a rematch of last year’s national semifinal between HCC and No. 2 Central Arizona. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. on Friday.

“It was a remarkable game,” said HCC head coach John Ontjes, who won his second Top 5 matchup this season. “Playing a great team like Northwest Florida, our kids just battled all game long. We were fortunate to be able to make the play at the end. Jamie making those two free throws was the icing on the cake for her and for the team at the finish.

Hutchinson took a 71-67 lead with 2:50 to play on Chrisstasia Walter’s spectacular three-point play. The Raiders (26-6) fought back to tie the game at 71-all and missed three chances to take the lead. The first when Tavarsha Scott couldn’t complete a three-point play with 1:04 remaining. The second was when Carla Batchelor missed two free throws with 13.5 seconds remaining.

Walter looked to have the rebound secured on the second missed free throw, but couldn’t totally control the ball. After a mad scramble, a tied possession was called and the possession arrow was pointing Hutchinson’s way.

On that final possession, Walter tried to penetrate to the basket and pulled up from about 6 feet and missed long. Patrick, who as huge on the offensive boards all game, grabbed the rebound and was fouled 2.0 seconds left. Patrick hit the first, then had to wait out two Northwest timeouts before hitting the seconds for a 73-71 lead – Hutch’s only points of the final 2 minutes, 50 seconds of the game.

Northwest Florida, out of timeouts, then tried a long inbound pass that Sorrells picked off and held on as the buzzer sounded to punch’s HCC’s ticket to the Final Four,.

“I know my team believes in me and I believe in myself to make the first one at least,” Patrick said. “Their coach then called two timeouts to try and get me out of my rhythm. I was so shaking on the bench.”

“Jamie was in the right place,” Ontjes said. “She made a play on the basketball. Chrisstasia drove it in. She tried to get and get it as deep as she could. We were fortunate to get an offensive rebound and that was the key in the game.”

Patrick finished the game with a career-high 25 points, tying a career high with 4 of 6 from the 3-point line. She had eight rebounds, six were offensive boards and she scored after four of those offensive rebounds.

That worked helped Hutchinson build a huge 46-28 rebounding advantage. HCC grabbed 22 offensive boards and had a decisive 19-4 advantage in second-chance points.

Walter had another great postseason game with 18 points – hitting three 3-point goals, – nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. With her second assist of the game, Walter became the first player in Lady Dragon history to have 200 assists in a season.

Sophomore Jasmine Patterson had 12 points and six rebounds. Freshman Jade Herl finished with nine points on three 3-point goals.

The Lady Dragons shot 37.9 percent from the field (25 of 66) with a season-high 11 3-point goals on 24 attempts and 12 of 17 from the foul line. HCC turned the ball over 18 times.

Northwest Florida State scored the most points by an HCC opponent this season and became the first team in 99 games to shoot at lead 50 percent (25 of 50). The Raiders his seven 3-pointers in the game, but only one in the second half, one 20 attempts. NWFS was 14 of 22 from the foul line.

Scott had 18 of her 23 team-high points in the second half. She added eight rebounds. Luiana Livuto added 19 points and Kiani Parker had 11 points, five rebounds and five assists.

“They have speed and they have strength, but I always believed that we would win in the end,” Walter said.

“They hardly missed any shots in the first half,” Herl said. We were sagging off a couple and they just stepped up and made shots. Hopefully they were going to cool off and they never did. We just got enough stops to win.”

Hutchinson saw two nine-point leads quickly disappear, once in each half.

The Lady Dragons led 15-6 with 14:37 left to play in the first half. Northwest quickly reversed that deficit with a 12-0 run over the next two minutes to lead 18-15 with 11:39 to play in the half. A Walter 3-pointer and Sorrells putback reclaimed the lead for Hutchinson.

Tied at 24-all, the Lady Dragons closed the first half on a 19-12 run, hitting eight first-half 3-pointers.

“We had to shoot the ball well from the perimeter to even have a chance to win the game because baskets were hard to come by around the rim tonight,” Ontjes said.

Patrick’s basket just 34 seconds into the second half gave HCC its second nine-point lead of 45-36. HCC forced five turnovers on Northwest’s first five possessions of the second half, but couldn’t cash in missing several layuyps or short putbacks early in the second half.

Northwest shot 61.9 percent (13 of 21) and took a 52-49 lead with 11:58 to play. The Lady Dragons responded with a Sorrells outback and a Patterson fast-break layup to reclaim the lead at 53-53 with 11:04 remaining.

The Lady Dragons kept holding off Northwest charges for the remainder of the game. Tied at 65-65, Patrick buried her fourth 3-pointer with 3:28 to go to give HCC a 68-65 lead. The Raiders answered with a two-pointer and Walter then created and then converted a wild three-point play to go up 71-67 with 2:49 to play.

Those were the last Blue Dragon points of the game until Patrick’s late game heroics with 2 seconds remaining.

GAME NOTES – Hutchinson is now 9-5 all time in the NJCAA Tournament and 3-0 in the quarterfinal round. … This was the closest margin of victory in tournament play. … The 71 points allowed is the third most in HCC tournament history. … HCC’s 35 season wins are one win a away from last year’s 36-1 record-breaking bunch. …This was the 71st win by the Sophomores. … HCC is 2-0 in NJCAA poll Top five matches this season… John Ontjes is 22-7 vs. ranked opponents at HCC. … This was the first-ever meeting between HCC and Northwest Florida State. … Chrisstasia Walter moved up to sixth in career steals with 138. She is already the single-season steals leader. … Jamie Patrick has 63 3-point goals this season. … The Lady Dragons how have 2,746 points for the season, which is 19 points away from breaking a team record. … The 2013 Lady Dragons  became the second team in HCC history to reach 1,000 field goals with 1,222. … HCC is up to fourth in 3-pointers (195), up to third in total rebounds (1,560), up to second in assists (952) and is tied for fourth in total blocks (136). … Jasmine Patterson is up to 17th on the career scoring list with 750 points. … The only two teams in the last three years – South Plains and Northwest  Florida – to shoot 50 percent have been right at 50 percent. That means an opponent hasn’t better than 50 percent in 218 games. …HCC is 33-1 when lading at halftime.

(By Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information Director)

OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On the HCC rebounding …
“To only give them six offensive rebounds and out-rebound them by 18 way whey we were in the ball game.

On the role players …
They had some kids step and step up and make some shots for them. We never backed down. We kept our composure and we are moving on to the Final Four.

On the competitive nature of the team .
We have a very cohesive group, a very competitive ground. Each one of those kids understand their role and they love to win.

Freshman Jamie Patrick
On final minute of the game …
I thought that I ruined the game because I fouled the girl right at the end. It was the stupidest move that I fouled her. I was so nervous. We stayed with it and kept going.”

On the early hot outside shooting …
“We know that we are good shooters and you can’t let one miss get you down. You have to keep stepping up and taking open shots you get from your teammates.”

On playing in the national tournament …
“It’s always more fun playing than sitting the stands. The team last year was amazing and they did so well. I just want to carry on and be a part of the Hutch team.

Sophomore Jade Herl
On Jamie Patrick and the final free throws …
“I was really confident that she was going to make them. I am usually her partner when we work on them and she hardly ever misses, so I was confident she was going to make both of them and she did.”

On where this ranks in exciting games for her career …
“This is at the top. Going back and forth with a team and they get a lead by two and we come down and make a basket. People stepped up and made shots and we got stops on defense. I was one of the most exciting games I have played in.”

Sophomore Chrisstasia Walter
On the final play …
“I was hoping they don’t any half-court shot at the end. I was thinking that we have it, we just had to make one more stop.”

On returning to the Final four …
“It feels good being a part of something like this. Some girls might not get a chance. We just want to live for tomorrow and keep pushing.”

On Jamie Patrick and the final free throws …
“I had confidence in her.”

AUDIO RECAP

SALINA – The No. 3-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team whipped up another defensive gem to open the 2013 NJCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament.

The Lady Dragons held their 99th consecutive opponent to less than 50-pecent shooting, holding ASA College of Brooklyn, N.Y., to 32.1 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers as third-seeded Hutchinson eliminated the 19th-seeded Avengers 77-55 in a second-round matchup on Wednesday night at the Bicentennial Center.

Hutchinson (34-1) advances to the NJCAA quarterfinals for the second-straight year and will play No. 11 Northwest Florida State (26-5) at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Sophomore point guard Chrisstasia Walter led the Lady Dragon defense on Wednesday with a career-high-tying seven of Hutchinson’s 14 steals in the game. HCC forced ASA into 19 turnovers and converted them into 19 points.

Walter and freshman Jen’Von’Ta Hill had the primary defensive assignment on ASA’s Shaquita Smith, who had 30 point in the Avengers’ opening-round victory over Western Nebraska. Walter and Hill limited Smith to only three free throws and 0 of 8 overall shooting, 0 of 5 from 3-point range.

“We were trying to not allow (Smith) to have a big night like she did last night,” HCC head coach John Ontjes said. “You can’t complement Jen and Chrisstasia enough on how well they defended her.”

The other key was keeping the athletic Avengers off the boards. ASA averages 52 total rebounds and 26 offensive boards per game. HCC out-rebounded ASA 46-33, holding the Avengers to 14 offensive boards. ASA had just 12 second-chance points.

“They had 23 offensive rebounds against Western Nebraska yesterday,” Ontjes said. “They are a very good team that is athletic and goes to the boards very hard and it was our goal tonight to just our bodies between them and basket and try to eliminate as many second-chance points as we could.”

Added sophomore Jasmine Patterson: “All we talked about was keeping them off the boards. They had 20-something rebounds against Western Nebraska. We had to box out today or they would go get it. No. 11 (Sashana Bucknor and No. 3 (Tiffany Jones) were like animals on the boards yesterday, so we had to box out.”

Walter finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. She had a couple of 3-pointers, including a huge trey early in the second half that pushed the HCC lead to double figures for the first time in the second half.

“After I hit that first shot, I was a little more relaxed,” Walter said. “Now we just have to take them one game at a time.”

Patterson had 14 of her 17 points in the first half. She added six rebounds. Freshman Jamie Patrick had 10 of her 13 points in the second half. Sophomore Aja Sorrells had eight of her 10 points in the final 20 minutes.

The bench also played a key role in the victory.

Sophomore Kyrsten Crawford had seven points. Freshman Briana Starks added six points. Hill had six points and four assists. Freshman Kiarra Jones didn’t score, but had six rebounds and played solid, physical defense.

The Lady Dragons shot 23 of 57 overall (40.4) percent, including 4 of 13 from 3-point range and 27 of 35 from the foul line. HCC had 14 turnovers.

Tiffany Jones led ASA (26-6) with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Kelcey Castro came off the bench to hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range and finish with 12 points.

“We had to contain them and keep them in front of us,” Patterson said of the defensive effort. “We did a pretty good job with that today.”

Hutchinson jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead after a Patrick 3-pointer with 16:22 to play in the first half. The lead reached eight with a Patterson 3-pointer with 11:08 to go for a 15-7 lead. The Hutchinson run eventually reached 8-0 – neither team scored for nearly 3 minutes – but two Patterson free throws upped the lead to 17-7 with 8:45 to play.

HCC got the first-half lead to as many as12 points when Patterson scored after an offensive rebound for a 21-9 lead with 7:40 to play. ASA went on a 7-2 run; holding Hutch without a field goal for 4 minutes, 51 seconds and the lead was down to 23-16 with 4:25 to play.

HCC answered with two Patterson free throws and a Walter 3-pointer with 2:49 to go giving the Lady Dragons a 28-16 lead. The Lady Dragons led 34-25 at halftime. HCC shot 34.4 percent.

ASA got the lead down to seven at 37-30 with 18:37 to play. That’s when Walter knocked down a 3-pointer with 8:17 to go to push the lead back to 10 at 40-30.

A few minutes later, Sorrells scored and Hill hit a short jumper in the lane to give HCC a 50-38 lead with 14:02 to play. ASA kept hanging around for the next several minutes but never really mounted a threat. HCC led 56-42 with 9:52 to go after Castro’s fourth 3-pointer.

That wound up being ASA’s last field goal for the next 4 minutes as the Lady Dragons score 10 unanswered points to lead 66-42 after two Starks free throws with 6:13 to play.

Hutchinson shot 54.5 percent in the second half. ASA shot only 32.1 percent.

GAME NOTES – This was the first meeting ever between Hutchinson and ASA. It was only the second meeting between HCC and a team from New York. The other came in the 1877 NJCAA Tournament against Monroe College. … HCC had an NJCAA Tournament record 8-5, going 3-1 in tournament-opening games. … HCC was one of eight teams to receive a first-round bye. … The 2013 sophomores extended their team record for wins by a class to 70. … HCC head coach John Ontjes is now 20-8 vs. nationally ranked teams. … Chrisstasia Walter moved up to eighth in career steals with 134. … Jasmine Patterson now up to No. 18 on the career scoring list with 738 points. … HCC is 32-1 when leading at half. … The 27 free throws tie for the fifth most in the game. … ASA’s six blocked shots were the most by an opponent.

(By Steve Carpenter, HCC Sports Information Director)

OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach John Ontjes
On getting the ball inside …
“They have such great shock blockers around the rim. We did a great job of attacking. We did a good job of attacking when we could to get some easy baskets around the rim. We did what we needed to advance to the Elite Eight.”

On the play of the bench …
“We had some different kids step up and have some big minutes for us tonight. Kyrsten Crawford was big in the first half. We got in a little foul trouble with Aja (Sorrells) and Jamie (Patrick) and Briana Starks also went in and gave us good minutes.”

On Chrisstasia Walter’s play …
“She was very solid tonight. She ran the ball club like she needed to. She made good decisions. It relieves a lot of pressure when Chrisstasia can score some points for us.”

Sophomore Chrisstasia Walter
On the rebounding …
“We really worked on (rebounding) in shootaround today. We knew we were going to keep them off the boards and get a lot of rebounds.”

On defending ASA …
We are pretty athletic and we just tried to keep them in front of us and we did pretty good at it.

On how HCC’s offense attacked ASA …
We kept pushing at them and tried to get it inside and get to the line.

Sophomore Jasmine Patterson
On the rebounding …
All we talked about was keeping them off the boards. They had 20-something rebounds against Western Nebraska. We had to box out today or they would go get it. No. 11 and No. 3 were like animals on the boards yesterday, so we had to box out.

On helping the freshmen calm their nerves …
“We told the freshmen to keep calm and don’t rush anything. Don’t play scared, because when you play scared you are going to mess up. Don’t force a lot of stuff and you will be alright. The first game jitters are now out of the way. Hopefully tomorrow we will come out and play.”

Four players scored in double figures as the second-ranked Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team defeated Neosho County 81-52 on Wednesday at the Sports Arena to complete a second-straight undefeated non-conference season.

Hutchinson (14-0) completed its sixth unbeaten non-conference season in the program’s 39-year history. HCC, in the process, extended its home-court winning streak to 71 games and its regular-season winning streak to 55 games. The Lady Dragons also defeated Neosho County (4-8) for the 16th-consecutive time.

Sophomore Jasmine Patterson tied a season-high with 16 points to go with five rebounds to lead four Lady Dragons in double figures. Patterson hit 5 of 9 shots from the field and 6 of 11 from the foul line.

Sophomore Aja Sorrells finished with 13 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Freshman Jamie Patrick hit four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points. Freshman Briana Starks scored in double figures for the first time in nine games with 10 points.

Sophomore Chrisstasia Walter had nine points and seven assists, her eighth game of the season and fourth-consecutive game with seven or more assists. Sophomore Kyrsten Crawford added eight points.

The Lady Dragons hit 28 of 61 shots overall (45.9 percent). HCC hit its first five 3-point goals of the game and finished 7 of 18 from long range. The Lady Dragons also hit 18 of 28 free throws.

Hutchinson had a slight 41-40 rebounding advantage. Walter had a game-high eight rebounds. HCC had 22 assists, 10 steals and 14 turnovers.

Alexis Hafenstein led Neosho County with 10 points and seven rebounds. Brandae Carroll and Dena English had nine points, while Shanice Palmer and Danielle Randle had eight points each.

The Panthers shot 30.9 percent overall (17 of 55), including 3 of 11 from 3-point range and 15 of 24 from the foul line. Neosho County is the 12th of 14 Hutchinson opponents to have at least 20 turnovers, committing 21.

Hutchinson had four significant runs to break the game open.

Leading 9-8, Sorrells scored to start a 15-0 run over a 3-minute, 39-second stretch. The burst was capped off by back-to-back inside hoops by Patterson to give Hutchinson a 24-8 lead with 13:49 to play in the opening half. The second run was 11-0 and it helped the Lady Dragons build a 39-15 lead with 7:35 to go in the half.

HCC then went scoreless for the next 6:19 as Neosho County scored 11 unanswered points, cutting the lead to 39-26 with 2:00 remaining in the opening half. HCC led 41-27 at halftime.

A Randle steal and layup with 16:49 to play in the second half pulled Neosho County within 11 points at 44-33, but Hutchinson answered the challenge with a 10-2 run. Sophomore Jade Herl buried a 3-pointer with 12:50 remaining to give the Lady Dragons a 55-35 lead.

Neosho County went through a stretch in the second half of 9 minutes, 56 seconds with only one field goal. The Lady Dragons outscored the Panthers 25-5 over that stretch. Starks’ bucket with 7:12 to play capped a 15-3 run to give HCC a 70-42 lead.

HCC’s largest second-half lead was 33 points at 80-47 with 2:48 left on a Stacey Mgbike basket.

The Lady Dragons will open Jayhawk West play at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Dodge City. The game will be played at the United Wireless Arena.

GAME NOTES – This was the 78th-straight time HCC has held an opponent to less than 50 percent shooting. … HCC is now 18-1 all-time vs. Neosho County, including 11-1 at the Sports Arena. … HCC head coach John Ontjes is now 77-5 in non-conference regular-season games. … HCC posted its 793rd all-time victory on Wednesday. … The Lady Dragons are 11-0 at the Sports Arena this season. … HCC’s seven 3-pointers were the third most in a game this season. … HCC’s six blocked shots tied for the second most this season. … Jamie Patrick tied a season high with two blocked shots.

(HCC Sports Information)