Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Freshman Monae Duffy grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds to lead the No. 4-ranked Hutchinson Community College Women's Basketball team to a Jayhawk Conference-opening victory on Wednesday at the Sports Arena.
Duffy's rebounding and Mya Williams' 21 points helped the Blue Dragons defeat the Independence Pirates 61-53.
The Blue Dragons improved to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Pirates fell to 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the KJCCC. The Dragons travel to Cloud County at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Concordia.
Duffy's 21 rebounds are the second most in single-game Blue Dragon history. Only Kalani Purcell's 22 rebounds against Seward County in 2014 topped Duffy's performance. Duffy helped the Blue Dragons out-rebound Independence 55-36 with 20 offensive rebounds to Independence's seven offensive boards.
The Blue Dragons rebounding helped offset a tough offensive night that saw Hutchinson shoot 30.3 percent overall (20 of 66). The Dragons hit a season-low 2 of 19 from 3-point range and were 19 of 32 from the free-throw line.
Williams had her sixth 20-point game of the season with 21 points on 7 of 17 shooting and two 3-pointers. Sophomore Kali Howard had 11 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Morgan Browning, freshman Journey Armstead and Duffy all had seven points.
D'yanna Maxey had 18 points to lead Independence. Valentina Ojeda had 10 rebounds.
The Pirates shot 31.0 percent (18 of 58), going 4 of 15 from 3-point range and 13 of 19 from the foul line.
The Blue Dragons jumped out to a 7-2 lead just 3:15 into the contest. The Pirates tied the game at 10-10 with 2:54 to go on a Sabrina Larsson jumper. The Dragons closed the opening quarter on a 10-2 run and led 20-12 after two Leata Te Nana-Williams free throws with four seconds left in the quarter.
The Dragons led 24-19 and used a 12-3 run to build a 36-22 lead after an Armstead layup with 2:08 to go in the second quarter. Indy scored the final four points of the period to cut the Dragon advantage to 36-26 at halftime.
A quick 6-0 run to start the third quarter helped Hutchinson build a game-high 16-point lead at 42-26 after a Williams' layup with 7:22 remaining. The Dragons then missed 11 of their final 13 shots in the third quarter. With Hutchinson leading 44-28, the Pirates held the Dragons scoreless for 5 1/2 minutes and pulled with 44-38 with 51 seconds left. Natalie Payne scored inside with 24 seconds to play to give the Dragons a 46-38 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Independence continued to chip away and pulled within 50-48 after a Maxey 3-pointer with 6:25 to play in the quarter. A Browning 12-foot jumper started a key 7-0 run over the next 2 minutes. Howard scored with 4:07 to play to up the Dragon lead to 57-48. The Pirates cut the lead to two possessions, but the Dragons maintained the lead and earned a season-opening conference victory for the first time in two seasons.