Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GARDEN CITY – Nafatoumata Haidara posted her second career double-double and Ishante Suttington helped carry the scoring load as the No. 17-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team rallied from a first-quarter deficit to earn a Jayhawk West road victory.
With the offense still not firing on all cylinders, the Blue Dragons grinded out a 56-52 victory over Garden City at Conestoga Arena to extend their winning streak to six games.
The Blue Dragons improve to 10-2 overall and 9-2 in the Jayhawk West. Hutchinson has a short turnaround time before heading to No. 25 Seward County at 6 p.m. on Monday in Liberal. Garden City, which upset the Saints on Wednesday, fell to 5-7 overall and 4-7 in the league.
Haidara scored a season-high 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting to lead the Blue Dragons. She completed her second-career double-double with a career-high 14 rebounds.
Suttington was the only other Blue Dragon in double figures with 15 points.
Both Haidara and Suttington had eight points each in the first half that saw the Blue Dragons rally from a three-point first-quarter deficit (16-13). The two combined for 10 points in a second quarter that saw the Dragons shoot 61.5 percent and outscored the Busters 17-13 to take a 30-29 lead at halftime.
Hutchinson snapped a three-game streak of shooting less than 40 percent, but barely doing so. The Blue Dragons shot 40.8 percent for the game (20 of 49). Hutch struggled from distance for a second-straight game going 2 of 12 from 3-point range and 14 of 24 from the foul line.
Lojong Gore finished with eight points while Kate Ogle added six.
The Blue Dragons held Garden City to 31.0 percent shooting (18 of 58), but the Busters stayed in the game on 10 of 25 shooting from 3-point range. The Busters were 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Kealani Neves hit 5 of 9 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 20 points. Taylor Lawhorne had nine for the Busters.
There were seven lead changes and three ties in the second quarter alone. Trailing by a point after Garden City's Donetria McGee scored, Gore scored with 1:11 to play in the second quarter to give the Blue Dragons the lead, which was the halftime score.
The first points of the third quarter came at the 6:19 mark when Suttington scored for a 32-29 lead. The lead grew to six at 35-29 after Garden City went scoreless for the first 5:28 of the period. The Busters stayed within striking distance and pulled within 40-38 after a Jill Stephens' three-point play to close the third quarter.
Stephens hit a 3-pointer with 8:29 to play in the fourth quarter to give Garden City a 41-40 lead. Haidara immediately helped the Dragons re-assume the lead with a putback hoop and two free throws 30 seconds later to give the Dragons a 44-41 lead. Lawhorne hit a 3 with 5:05 to play to give the Busters a 46-45 lead. Hutchinson answered with an Haidara free throw and Ogle 3-pointer. Suttington nailed a pair of free throws with 3:49 left to give the Dragons a 52-46 lead.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons have won five in a row over Garden City and are 73-19 all-time against the Busters. … The Dragons are 3-0 on the road since losing the first two road contests of the season.