Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team makes their seventh overall appearance in the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament national quarterfinals and first since 2019 on Friday at the Ford Casper Center.

The top-seeded Blue Dragons (34-0) will meet the eighth-seed New Mexico Junior College Thunderbirds (27-6) in the first of four quarterfinals at 1 p.m. (Noon Casper time). The Hutchinson-New Mexico winner advances to the national semifinals to meet the Gulf Coast State/Eastern Arizona winner at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The game will be broadcast live on KHMY-FM (93.1) with Sean Boston (play-by-play) calling the action beginning at 12:45 p.m. (Hutchinson time). All tournament games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Monday's championship game to by televised on ESPNU.

The Blue Dragons are 6-0 all-time in the NJCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The last time Hutchinson played in the quarterfinal round was 2019 when the Dragons defeated Odessa 66-50 in Lubbock.

Hutchinson survived an upset bid from No. 16-seed Cochise College in the second-round on Wednesday. Trailing by as many as nine points, the Blue Dragons rallied, getting 11 fourth-quarter points from leading scorer Kiki Smith - who was shut out on just two shot attempts in the first three quarters - to earn a 59-54 victory over the Apaches. Hailey Jackson scored a team-high 16 points to pace the Blue Dragons. Journey Armstead had 12 points and four assists.

New Mexico comes from a tough Region 5 field that placed three teams - Odessa and Collin - in the national tournament field. The Thunderbirds are an at-large entry into the tournament after falling in the Region 5 semifinals two weeks ago.

New Mexico advanced to the national quarterfinals after a 74-61 win over Trinity Valley in the second round on Wednesday. The Thunderbirds used a 23-11 second-quarter to keep the Cardinals at arm's length throughout the second half. Cacia Antonio and Pania Davis had 20 points each to lead New Mexico. Antonio had a double-double with 11 rebounds.

The Blue Dragons are making their 11th NJCAA Tournament appearance, the 10th under head coach John Ontjes, who is 18-10 in the national tournament in his time in his 17 seasons with the Blue Dragons.