Hutchinson CC Sports Information
LIBERAL – Freshman Monae Duffy posted her third-straight double-double to lead the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team to a big road win and season sweep of the Seward County Saints on Wednesday at the Green House.
After starting the season 1-4 on the road, the Blue Dragons are now 7-5 after a 69-54 victory over the Saints in the final regular-season road game for Hutchinson.
The Blue Dragons improved to 22-7 overall with their third-straight victory and 16-7 in the KJCCC. Hutchinson has its second conference bye week on Saturday and will close out the regular season on Wednesday with Garden City at the Sports Arena. Seward County fell to 14-15 overall and 12-11 in the league.
Hutchinson trailed 12-11 after one quarter. A short Duffy jumper on the first possession of the second quarter sparked an 11-0 Dragon run over the first 2:36 of the period. Journey Armstead's free throw with 7:26 to go in the quarter gave the Dragons a 23-12 lead. The closest the Saints got after that was eight points.
Duffy posted her third-straight double-double and team-high ninth of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Blue Dragons.
Armstead had a big game with 14 points, six rebounds and nine assists. That was her fourth game this season with eight or more assists.
Mya Williams scored 13 points with a pair of 3-pointers to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kali Howard came off the bench to add 11 points and seven boards. Howard also had a career-high three blocked shots.
The Blue Dragons shot 39.3 percent for the game (24 of 61), hitting 4 of 15 from 3-point range and 17 of 26 from the foul line. The Dragons out-rebounded Seward County 48-27 and had 16 turnovers in the game.
Hutchinson was impressive defensively, especially through the first three quarters. The Blue Dragons limited the Saints to just 30 points and 27.2 percent shooting in opening a 50-30 lead after three quarters.
For the game, Seward County shot 32.1 percent (18 of 56), hitting 7 of 21 from 3-point range and 11 of 15 from the free-throw line. The Saints had 14 turnovers.
Halima Salat and D'Arrah Allen had 14 points each to lead Seward County. De'Shawnti Thomas finished with 13 points.
The Dragons fell behind 4-0 and never had a first-quarter lead. The Dragons didn't score its first field goal until the 4:41 mark on an Armstead jumper to pull within 6-5. Down 12-8, Williams hit a 3-pinter with 1:45 left to pull the Dragons within 12-11.
The Dragons opened the second quarter with a key 11-0 run over the first 2:34 of the period. Four different players scored in the run that gave Hutchinson a 23-12 lead. The Dragons held Seward scoreless for 5 minutes, 28 seconds before Alianna Colon hit a 3-pointer with 6:37 left to snap the skid. The Dragons scored 14 points in the paint and 10 points of Seward turnovers as Hutchinson built a 33-21 lead at halftime.
Seward County cut the Dragon lead to nine points at 35-26 with 8:46 to go in the third quarter. Duffy's transition three-point play silenced that Saints' run and gave the Dragons a 38-26 with 7:14 to play. The Dragons held Seward County to just two more field goals over the final 6:48 of the period. A Williams jumper gave Hutchinson a 42-28 lead. Williams nailed a 3-pointer with 1:24 left for a 49-20 lead. The Dragons led 50-30 after three quarters.
Hutchinson capped a 12-0 run with buckets from Duffy and Natalie Payne to open a 54-30 lead with 8:15 to play. Salat hit four 3-pointers in the final quarter to pull the Saints within 11 points with 1:01 to play, but the Dragons hit four free throws in the final minute to close out the game.
GAME NOTES – The Dragons lead the overall series with Seward County 51-50 with their third win in a row in the series. … The 54 points allowed are the fewest allowed in the series since March 8, 2017 when the Dragons held the Saints to 44 points. … The victory was the 500th regular-season Jayhawk Conference victory in Blue Dragon history. … Mya Williams now has 1,141 career points, 36 behind Kalani Purcell. … Williams became the seventh Blue Dragon in program history to reach 150 career 3-pointers. … Williams tied Penny Fischer for sixth on the career field goals list with 368. … Williams is fourth in career free throws with 255. … Journey Armstead had her fourth game with eight or more assists. … The Dragons are 5-6 when trailing after the first quarter.