Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The second semester grind begins Saturday for the No. 6-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team.

Fresh off a pair of holiday wins last week at the Sports Arena, the Blue Dragons dive back into conference play on Saturday with a road game to play the Allen Red Devils.

Game time on Saturday is at 2 p.m. at the ACC Gym in Iola. The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) with Rusty Hilst (play-by-play) and Daren Dunn (analysis) calling the action beginning at 1:55 p.m. The game will be videostreamed on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 1:55 p.m.

Hutchinson and Allen meet with the teams going in opposite directions at the mid-point of the 2018-19 regular season.

The Blue Dragons are 14-0 (5-0 in the Jayhawk West) after wins over Iowa Western (71-50) and Ellsworth (85-22) last weekend in the Polo Bar & Grill/Blue Dragon Holiday Classic. The Red Devils have dropped 12 straight games after Thursday's 77-63 home loss to Connors State. The Red Devils are 2-13 overall (0-5 in the Jayhawk East).

Defense continues to be the focal point for the Blue Dragons, who are allowing a Jayhawk Conference-low 47.5 points per game. Hutch has held its last 10 opponents to less than 40 percent shooting and 8 of the last 10 opponents to 50 points or less. The Blue Dragons are also No. 1 in the league in field-goal defense (29.3 percent) and rebounds allowed (28.3) and are third in turnovers forced (26.4).

The Blue Dragons lead the league in scoring offense at 83.4 points per game, field-goal percentage (45.9 percent) and assists (20.2).

Hutchinson sophomore forward Dejanae Roebuck is the fourth-leading scorer in the Jayhawk at 15.9 points per game and third in the KJCCC in field-goal shooting at 52.9 percent. Roebuck ranks seventh in the league in rebounds at 7.9 boards per game.

Sophomore Jada Mickens is at 10.1 points per game and is fourth in the KJCCC in field-goal percentage at 52.4 percent from the floor. Freshman Makayla Vannett is third on the team in scoring at 10.9 points per game.

Offense hasn't been the biggest problem for the Red Devils so far. Allen is averaging 65.2 points while shooting 39.9 percent overall, 27.9 percent from 3-point range and 63.5 percent from the free-throw line. Defensively, the Devils are 13th of 15 teams allowing 79.7 points per game. Opponents are shooting 41.0 percent overall, but just 17.2 percent from 3-point range.

Allen has allowed 70 or more points in eight straight games and in 11 of 15 games this season.

The Blue Dragons will have to contend with 2 of the Jayhawk's Top 10 scorers in Allen's Jakira Wilson and Ariel Walker. Wilson is second in the league at 17.2 points per game and eighth in field-goal percentage at 50.8 percent. Walker is at 12.8 points per game.

Blue Dragon head coach John Ontjes is just three games shy of 400 games coached at Hutchinson.