[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]
Photo courtesy of Joel Powers, HCC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Sophomore Taylor Stahly sank five 3-pointers, sophomore Kirea Rogers posted another double-double and the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team’s defense frustrated Cowley as the Blue Dragons captured a 10th-straight victory on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
The No. 8 Blue Dragons earned their second victory this season over a nationally ranked opponent with an 80-60 victory over the No. 18 Tigers to stay one game behind Jayhawk Conference first-place Seward County. The Blue Dragons improve to 12-1 overall. The third-place Tigers fall to 11-3 and 7-3 in league play. This was Hutchinson’s sixth-consecutive victory over the Tigers.
The Blue Dragons held Cowley to its lowest offensive output and lowest shooting percentage (31.1 percent) of the season. The Dragons also forced a Cowley season-high 22 turnovers. Hutchinson’s defense held Amy O’Neil – Cowley’s leading scorer at 18.9 points per game – to one point on 0 of 11 shooting.
The Blue Dragons led 18-9 after one quarter and then broke the game open with an 8-0 run to open the second period to lead 26-9 with 6:57 remaining in the opening half. Hutch’s lead grew to as many as 27 points in the second half.
Stahly led the Blue Dragons with a game-high and season-high 21 points, going 5 of 10 from 3-point range – Stahly’s second-straight game with five 3-pointers.
Rogers posted her fourth double-double of the season and 12th of her career with 13 points and a season-high-tying 13 rebounds. Rogers also had three steals and three blocked shots, which moved her into ninth place on Hutchinson’s career blocks chart with 61 rejections in her Blue Dragon career.
Sophomore Inja Butina was the only other Blue Dragons to score in double figures with 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Freshmen Brenna McClure and Alicia Brown both came off the bench to score nine points. Bride Kennedy-Hopoate had eight points.
The Blue Dragons shot 39.3 percent overall (24 of 51), hitting 5 of 10 from 3-point range and 27 of 32 from the free-throw line. The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Cowley 50-36. Hutch had 18 turnovers.
Bridget Mimmo had 14 points to lead the defending Region VI champion Tigers. Rhiannon Mae Laing and Kendra Green had 11 points each.
The Tigers hit 19 of 61 total shots, going 8 of 29 from 3-point range and 14 of 21 from the free-throw line.
Tied at 7-all in the early stages of the game, a Kennedy-Hopoate bucket with 7:04 to play ignited a run of eight-straight points that gave Hutch a 15-7 lead after a Brown free throw with 4:03 to play in the opening quarter. Brown scored again with 1:51 left to give Hutch an 18-9 lead and Brown, Rogers, McClure and Butina all scored to open the second quarter to lead 26-12 with 6:38 to go in the quarter.
Samantha Schwab’s two free throws with 2:01 to go in the second quarter helped Cowley cut the deficit to 35-24, but Stahly knocked down her fifth 3-pointer of the half and McClure added two free throws with 5 seconds left to give Hutchinson a 40-24 lead at halftime.
The Blue Dragons went without a field goal for 5 minutes, 55 seconds in the third quarter, but held Cowley to 4 of 16 shooting in the period. Hutch did most of its damage from the foul line going 11 of 12 in the period. Leading 58-38 in the final seconds of the third quarter, Shayla DeGarmo hit a jumper with 4 seconds left. McClure then severely damaged Cowley’s comeback chances with a steal of the inbound pass and layup just before the third-quarter buzzer to give the Dragons a 62-39 lead.
The Blue Dragons used another 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to build a 75-48 lead after two Rogers free throws with 3:01 left in the game. Cowley scored eight-straight points to cut the lead to 75-46.
Hutchinson travels to Allen on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game with the Red Devils in Iola.