HUTCHINSON BACK ON ROAD TO FACE TEST AT PRATT

Lauryn Mapusya scored a career-high 21 yards as the No. 10 Blue Dragons roll by the Pratt Beavers 74-44 on Saturday at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena in Pratt. (Bre Rogers/Blue Dragon Sports Information),
Lauryn Mapusya scored a career-high 21 yards as the No. 10 Blue Dragons roll by the Pratt Beavers 74-44 on Saturday at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena in Pratt. (Bre Rogers/Blue Dragon Sports Information),
Information Box

BLUE DRAGON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

No. 10 Hutchinson (16-2, 8-1) at Pratt (11-7, 5-4)

When: Saturday, January 18, 2020
Where: Dennis Lesh Sports Arena, Pratt, KS
Game time: 5:30 p.m.
Live Radio: KHUT-FM (102.9); KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5), 5:20 p.m.
Live Video: Blue Dragon Sports Network, 5:20 p.m.
Twitter: @bluedragonsport

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team wraps up a two-game road trip and a stretch of five games in 11 days on Saturday with a Jayhawk West road trip to meet the Pratt Beavers.

The No. 10-ranked Blue Dragons and Beavers, the Nos. 2 and 4 teams in the Jayhawk West standings, will tip off at 5:30 p.m. at the Dennis Lesh Sports Arena in Pratt.

The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 5:20 p.m. with Steve Carpenter (play-by-play) and Daren Dunn (analyst) calling the action. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will provide a videostream, also beginning at 5:20 p.m.

The Blue Dragons (16-2, 8-1 Jayhawk West) face a tough challenge from the Beavers, who have made a meteoric rise up the Jayhawk West ladder under third-year head coach John Ishee. Pratt was 2-24 in Ishee's first season in 2017 and improved to 20-11 last season. Currently the Beavers are 11-7 and in fourth place in the Jayhawk West at 5-4.

The Blue Dragons defeated Garden City 77-72 on Wednesday at Garden City. The Blue Dragons finally broke the game open with a 13-0 run midway through the fourth quarter.

Hutch shot 64.3 percent in that fourth quarter and finished shooting 46.4 percent for the game. Defensively, the Blue Dragons held the Broncbusters to 32.3 percent shooting and forced 24 turnovers. Abby Ogle had a team-high 17 points, seven rebounds and eight steals. Lauryn Mapusua had a career-high 14 rebounds and Nafatoumata Haidara scored nine of her 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Pratt has dropped two games in a row to Barton and Seward County entering Saturday's game. The Beavers lost 68-42 on Wednesday at Seward County. Pratt was held to a season-low 25.4 percent shooting and went 4 of 26 from 3-point range.

Saturday's game will be the 90th meeting between Hutchinson and Pratt. The Blue Dragons lead the series 78-11. That's the most victories over any single Hutchinson opponent. The Blue Dragons have won 37 of 43 games played in Pratt. Hutchinson has won nine games in a row against Pratt.
The Blue Dragons continue to close in on all-time program victory No. 1,000. The Blue Dragons currently sit at 992 all-time wins for the program that started in the 1974-75 season.

With her eight steals against Garden City on Wednesday, Blue Dragon sophomore Abby Ogle moved past Jen'Von'Ta Hill into fourth place on the Hutchinson career steals list with 172 steals. Ogle now has 14 career games of five steals or more.