Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GOODLAND – Ishante Suttington scored the go-ahead basket with 36 second left to play and the No. 21-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team survived a Northwest Tech 3-point barrage to win its fourth game in a row Wednesday night.
The Blue Dragons saw a 13-point second-half lead disappear in the final minute but scored the final six points for a 69-63 Jayhawk West victory over Northwest Tech at Max Jones Fieldhouse.
The Blue Dragons improve to 8-2 overall and now lead the Jayhawk West by 0.5 games over idle Seward County. Hutchinson's game at Seward County on Saturday has been postponed and will be made up on Monday, March 8. Northwest Tech falls to 5-4 overall and 5-4 in the Jayhawk West.
Hutchinson built 41-28 lead with 7:54 to go in the third quarter on a Yana Grassity 3-pointer. Northwest Tech cut that deficit to 52-48 at the end of the third quarter.
The Blue Dragons couldn't put the Mavericks away in the fourth quarter in part to eight turnovers in the final quarter and eight second-half 3-pointers from Northwest Tech. Chloe Andrew hurt the Blue Dragons with six 3-point goals and a game-high 22 points to lead the Tech comeback.,
Hutchinson held Tech off on eight positions in the fourth quarter where the Mavericks could either tie the game or take the lead. Tech cashed in on its ninth opportunity when Alonna Harvey-Williams banked home a 3-pointer with the shot-clock buzzer sounding to tie the game at 63 with 1:26 to play.
Each team then traded offensive fouls. With the shot clock going under 10 seconds, Suttington drove down the left side of the lane and finished with the left hand with 36 seconds to play giving the Blue Dragons a 65-63 lead. The Mavericks missed a short shot to tie the game. Tor'e Alford and Kate Ogle made four three throws in the final 16 seconds to secure the victory.
The six-point margin of victory is the closest of seven games in the series.
Grassity led the Blue Dragons with a career-high 14 points, hitting 3 of 6 3-point goals and dishing out five assists.
Playing only two minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, Alford scored all 13 of her points in the second half. She hit three 3-point goals.
Nafatoumata Haidara just missed a second-straight double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Lojong Gore had eight points and eight rebounds. Ogle and K.K. Adams chipped in seven points each.
Hutchinson shot 43.4 percent for the game (23 of 53), hitting 9 of 23 from 3-point range and 14 of 18 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded Northwest Tech 38-23.
Andrew's six 3-pointers were the most by a Blue Dragon opponent this season and she's only the second opponent with a 20-plus point game against the Dragons this season. Lauryn Vieira finished with 13 points.
Northwest Tech had an opponent-high 13 3-pointers on 33 attempts. The Mavericks were 21 of 49 overall (42.9 percent) and 8 of 12 from the free-throw line.
There were four lead changes and five ties in the game.
The Blue Dragons trailed 27-24 after an Aminata Seck layup with 3:52 to play in the second quarter. The Dragons closed the half on a 9-1 run to lead 33-28 at halftime.