Hutchinson CC Sports Information

With four weeks remaining in the 2020 regular season, this is a very important week for the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team.

The Blue Dragons end the first time through the Jayhawk West this week against the Nos. 1 and 3 teams in the standings. No. 8 Hutchinson (19-2, 11-1) plays host to third-place Barton (11-10, 7-5) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.

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 Dan Naccarato (analyst) calling the action. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will provide a videostream, also beginning at 5:20 p.m.

After Barton, the Blue Dragons travel to Liberal to meet first-place and No. 12-ranked Seward County. Seward County is 12-0 in league play with the Blue Dragons one game behind and Barton five games off the lead.

Hutchinson enters Wednesday's game on a five-game winning streak after Sunday's 77-36 win at Colby. The Blue Dragons held their fifth-straight opponent to 33 percent or less in overall shooting, limiting the Trojans to a mere 18.2 percent and only 26 points over the final 35 points of the game.

Blue Dragon sophomore Abby Ogle has scored in double figures in 12-straight games fresh off her 25-points outing on Sunday against Colby. Ogle enters the game as the second-leading scorer in the Jayhawk at 16.4 points per game. Ogle is fourth in the nation in steals at 4.1 picks per game. Ogle has 14 career games of five or more steals.

The Blue Dragons have two of the Top 10 3-point shooters in the league with sophomore Makayla Vannett, who is second at 42.9 percent (67 makes) and Tor'e Alford, who is ninth at 38.6 percent (24 games). Alford is 5 of 8 from distance in her first two games back after missing eight games in a row with an injury.

Barton dropped a 69-63 decision to Seward County on Saturday in Great Bend. The Cougars were held to 30.6 percent shooting. Richelle Turney scored a team-high 22 points, while Vanessa Oduah had 16 points and D'Shonda Hunt had 14 points for the Cougars.

Turney is the KJCCC's fourth-leading scorer at 15.6 points per game. The Cougars are the fourth-best rebounding team in the Jayhawk at 43.9 rebounds per game.

Wednesday's game will be the 92nd all-time matchup between Hutchinson and Barton in a series that started in 1978. The Blue Dragons trail 54-37 in the series, one of three Jayhawk West teams with an all-time winning record against Hutchinson.

Hutchinson has won nine straight and 19 of 21 over Barton since 2010. The Blue Dragons swept Barton 83-48 (Great Bend) and 87-49 (Sports Arena) last season.