By Steve Carpenter (HCC Sports Information)

SALINA – A relentless Chipola defense overpowered the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team over the first 16 minutes of the first half and the hole was too big to climb out of in the 2015 NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game.
Held to just three field goals over the first 17 minutes of the game, Hutchinson ultimately fell behind by as many as 15 points and lost to Chipola 54-46 at Salina’s Bicentennial Center.
Hutchinson ends its season at 36-1 and finishes as the national runner-up for the second-straight year and for the third time in four seasons. Chipola (34-1) wins its first national championship.
Hutchinson’s five two-year sophomores – Kalani Purcell, Alyx Bloom, Shakira Harding, Jessica Daughhetee and Sydney Benoit – finish their Blue Dragon careers with a stellar 71-2 record. The only two losses the group suffered were in the national championship game.
Bloom led Hutchinson with 14 points, scoring 10 points after halftime. Purcell closed out her career with her 45th career double-double. Scoring just one point in the first half, Purcell finished with 11 points, 19 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. Purcell picked up her sixth career statistical record, surpassing Chelsea Small for the Blue Dragons’ career blocked shots record with 94.
Purcell and Cynthia Petke were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Sueterrica Key led all scorers with 20 points to pace Chipola. She hit 3 of 10 from 3-point range. Tournament MVP Evelyn Akhator had 10 points and 14 rebounds. Kendra Martin also finished with 10 points, but hit two decisive shots that sealed the Blue Dragons’ fate.
HCC trailed 24-17 at halftime and after a quick 8-0 run by Chipola to start the second half; the Blue Dragons trailed 32-17 with 18:19 to play in the 2nd half. The Dragons finally found some offensive success and chipped away at the deficit, cutting the lead to 39-33 after a Clemence LeFebvre hoop with 7:11 to go.
Out of the timeout, Martin drained back-to-back 3-pointers and Rosemarie Julien added a third to give Chipola a 48-35 lead with 4:10 to play.
Chipola held Hutchinson to three field goals over the first 17 minutes of the game and 5 of 23 in the first half. For the game, the Blue Dragons shot 34.6 percent (18 of 52), hitting 3 of 15 from 3-point range and 7 of 9 from the foul line.
HCC actually out-shot and out-rebounded Chipola. The Indians shot 19 of 60 (31.7 percent), but hit 9 of 27 from 3-point range.