Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Over their last two games, the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team has simply be defensive.

Defensive gems over Garden City and first-place Independence have the Blue Dragons within 1.5 games of first place in the Jayhawk Conference. Now Hutchinson turns its defensive attention to Cloud County and its third-ranked offensive team in the KJCCC.

Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hutchinson and Cloud County flipped home dates from the originally schedule because of the NJCAA Volleyball Tournament and conflicts with the KJCCC Football Championship in November. Tickets for that November date will work at the Sports Arena on Wednesday.

Over the past two games - a 60-48 win over Garden City and a 80-49 win over Independence - the Blue Dragons are allowing 48.5 points per game, holding opponents to 27.5 percent shooting and 21.2 percent from 3-point range. The Blue Dragons held Independence 30 points under its season-scoring average.

Cloud County, which defeated Northwest Tech 66-60 at home on Monday night, is third in the KJCCC in scoring offense at 75.8 points per game. The Thunderbirds (10-8, 6-6 KJCCC) are second in field-goal percentage (42.5 percent) and first in 3-point shooting efficiency (32.8 percent). Guard Paula Puzule is the sixth-leading scorer in the Jayhawk at 13.7 points per game. Four different Thunderbirds average in double figures for veteran coach Brett Erkenbrack, who recently earned his 700th coaching win in his 33rd season with Cloud County.

Hutchinson won the first meeting with Cloud County on November 20 at Concordia, defeating the Thunderbirds 89-74. The Blue Dragons led 51-49 at halftime and outscored the T-Birds 38-25 in the second half, holding Cloud County to 29.7 percent shooting in the final two quarters.

Mya Williams had 27 points and Mele Kailahi added 26, tying a HutchCC single-game mark with 16 free throws. Rori Cox had 16 points to lead the Thunderbirds.