Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team comes to a critical week in the 2018-19 season as the Blue Dragons will face the two teams immediately behind them in the Jayhawk West standings for the first time this season.

The No. 3 Blue Dragons open the week with a road game at third-place Barton on Wednesday in Great Bend. Then Hutchinson and No. 8 Seward County will clash on Saturday at the Sports Arena.

Wednesday's game at Barton will tip off at 5:30 p.m. at the Barton Gym. The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sisters stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 5:25 p.m. with Glen Grunwald (play by play) and Rusty Hilst (analysis) calling the action. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will provide a live video stream also beginning at 5:25 p.m.

The Blue Dragons lead the Jayhawk West by one game at 12-0 in league play. Seward County is right on the Dragons' heels at 11-1 and Barton is tied for third with Pratt at 7-4. The Cougars fell off the pace after Saturday's 106-96 overtime loss to Seward County in Liberal.

Hutchinson extended the fifth-best start in team history to 21-0 on Saturday with a convincing 98-59 victory over Colby at the Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons shot 50 percent for the first time in four games (52.6 percent) as sophomore Jada Mickens hit 10 of 12 total shots in a season-high 20-point night against the Trojans. Sophomore Dejanae Roebuck added 18 in a 66-22 advantage in points in the paint for Hutchinson.

Ranked No. 4 in the nation in scoring defense and No. 3 in field-goal defense, the Blue Dragons will get a tough test from a Barton Cougar team that is one of the best offenses in the Jayhawk Conference.

The Cougars are third in the Jayhawk in scoring offense at 79.8 points per game while shooting 44.8 percent overall and 39.8 percent from 3-point range. Barton has one of the top 3-point shooters in the league in Mallory Miller, who is fourth the league with 48 3-pointers and third in 3-point percentage at 42.9 percent.

Barton is likely smarting after an overtime 106-96 loss at Seward County on Saturday. The Cougars missed some opportunities late in regulation.

This will be Barton's third game in the Sports Arena this season. The Cougars defeated Ellsworth, but lost to Iowa Western in December in the Polo/Blue Dragon Holiday Classic.

Hutchinson head coach John Ontjes is now five wins away from moving into fifth place in the all-time Jayhawk Conference and Region VI Coaching Wins list. Now with 335 wins, Darin Spence is fifth with 339.

Blue Dragons sophomore forward Dejanae Roebuck is now tied for 19th on the Blue Dragon career scoring list with Jasmine Patterson (2011-13) with 769 points. Next on the list at No. 18 is Brittany Dietz (2001-03) with 779 points.