Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Crunch Time has arrived for the No. 12-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team.

The Blue Dragons (25-3, 17-2) start the final week of the 2019-20 regular season with a pivotal battle against the Barton Cougars before wrapping up Saturday in a nationally ranked showdown at home with Seward County.

Tipoff on Wednesday will be at 5:30 p.m. from the Barton Gymnasium in Great Bend.

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 (color) calling the action. The game will also be streamed on the Blue Dragon Sports Network beginning at 5:20 p.m.

Last week's loss at Dodge City cost the Blue Dragons six spots in the NJCAA Division I Women's rankings. It also cost Hutchinson sole possession of first place in the Jayhawk West. Hutch and Seward are tied at 17-2, but the Blue Dragons do have a 72-70 win over the Saints on February 1.

The Blue Dragons go into Wednesday's game at Barton coming off back-to-back season-low offensive performances against Dodge City and Colby, scoring 55 and 53 points, respectively. The Dragons played those two games with the exception of two minutes, without leading scorer Abby Ogle. The Dodge City game was played without Ogle and second-leading scorer Makayla Vannett.

Until the offense gets healthy, the Blue Dragons are leaning on their No. 4-nationally ranked defense to lead the way. Against Colby in a 53-38 win, Hutchinson held the Trojans to 20.8 percent shooting and only five total field goals over the final three quarters.

The Blue Dragon defense was a major part of Hutchinson's 67-43 victory over Barton in the season's first meeting on January 29 at the Sports Arena. The Cougars were held to season lows for points and 23.3 percent shooting as the Dragons jumped out to a 20-4 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Tor'e Alford had 16 points to lead Hutchinson, while Richelle Turney had 15 points to pace the Cougars.

Barton has been a much better basketball team at home this season. The Cougars are 9-5 at home this season and average 75.2 points per game on their floor. Barton is 4-8 away from Great Bend and score only 62.5 points per game on the road.

Wednesday's game will be the 93rd all-time matchup between Hutchinson and Barton in a series that started in 1978. The Blue Dragons trail 54-38 in the series. Barton is one of three Jayhawk West teams with an all-time winning record against Hutchinson.