Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball starts a stretch of two-straight road games on Saturday with a trip to face the Cowley Tigers.

Tipoff between the Blue Dragons (18-4, 12-4 KJCCC) and the Tigers (12-7, 8-6) will be at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at Scott Auditorium in Arkansas City.

This is the second of what could be six-straight opponents that reside in the upper division of the Jayhawk Conference for Hutchinson. The Dragons are in second place, 1.5 games behind leader Independence. Cowley is in sixth place just 2.5 games out of third.

The Blue Dragons will try to reach the .500 mark in road games this season. Hutchinson is 3-4 on the road, winning the last time on the road - 83-36 last Saturday at Pratt.

Powered by a career 19-point effort from freshman Natalie Payne, the Blue Dragons ran their winning streak to five games after dominating Barton 73-47 on Wednesday at the Sports Arena. Defensively, the Blue Dragons turned in a stellar effort by holding Barton to 32.1 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers. The Cougars were held 18 points under their season scoring average.

Over Hutchinson's five-game winning streak, the Blue Dragon defense has been impressive. The Blue Dragons are allowing the last five opponents to 51.8 points per game and 31.7 percent shooting. The Dragons have held their last nine opponents to less than 40 percent shooting.

Saturday's game features the Nos. 3 and 4 winningest coaches in Jayhawk Conference and Region VI history. Blue Dragon head coach John Ontjes - who makes his 499th appearance on the Dragon bench Saturday - has 412 wins in 14-plus seasons at Hutchinson. Todd Clark has 406 victories in 17-plus seasons at Cowley.

The Blue Dragons won the first meeting this season with Cowley, 63-53, on December 1 at the Sports Arena. Freshman Mya Williams poured in a career-high 31 points in that game, hitting 7 of 13 shots from 3-point range. Carson Head finished with 20 points for Cowley.