Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Golden Anniversary season of Hutchinson Community College women's basketball has made its way to the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball National Tournament semifinals.

The top-seeded Blue Dragons (35-0) will meet the Eastern Arizona Gila Monsters, seeded 20th, in the first national semifinal at 5 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. MDT) on Saturday at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming. No. 2 Wabash Valley and No. 3 Northwest Florida State play in the second semifinal on Saturday.

The game will be broadcast live on KHMY-FM (93.1) with Sean Boston (play-by-play) calling the action beginning at 4:45 p.m. (Hutchinson time). All tournament games will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Monday's championship game to be televised on ESPNU.

The Blue Dragons make their seventh all-time national semifinal appearance, the first since 2019. The Dragons are 3-3 in national semifinal games, the last win coming in 2015, a 63-55 win over Walters State at the Bicentennial Center in Salina.

The Dragons advanced to the semifinals with a dominant 76-45 win over No. 8-seed New Mexico on Friday. Hailey Jackson led five Hutchinson players in double figures with 23 points. Kiki Smith added 16 points. The Dragons limited New Mexico to 29.1 percent shooting, holding the Thunderbirds 31 points under their 76-point season average.

Saturday's first national semifinal will feature two of the nation's best defensive teams. The Blue Dragons rank ninth in the NJCAA in scoring defense at 53.3 points per game and fourth in field-goal defense at 32.7 percent shooting allowed. Eastern Arizona ranks third in scoring defense (49.3 ppg) and is No. 1 in field-goal defense (30.9 percent).

Eastern Arizona, a Region 1 at-large tournament team, has been ranked in the NJCAA Top 25 all season long. Seeded 20th in the tournament, the Gila Monsters have defeated No. 13 Pearl River 56-45, No. 4 Collin 61-60) and No. 5 Gulf Coast State 67-53 in their tournament run so far.

Eastern Arizona is the second Region 1 opponent the Blue Dragons will play in the national tournament this year. Hutchinson eliminated Region 1 champion Cochise 59-54 in Wednesday's second round. The Blue Dragons are 2-1 all-time against Region 1 teams in the NJCAA Tournament in their history.

The semifinal winners will have Easter Sunday off and will meet in the 2024 national championship game at 7 p.m. CDT (6 p.m. MDT).