While the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team has known almost nothing but success since its inception in 1974-75, going to the NJCAA national tournament wasn’t usually in the cards for most of the program’s history.

A 1977 appearance at the NJCAA Tournament in Overland Park was the only appearance the Blue Dragon women had for the first 34 years of the program.

Starting in 2009, that history began to change for the Blue Dragons. Since 2009, the Blue Dragons have appeared in nine national tournaments and selected for a 10th.

Officially, Hutchinson has made 11 NJCAA Tournament appearances. The Blue Dragons have been to six National semifinals and appeared in three national championship games. Hutchinson is 20-12 overall in its NJCAA National Tournament history.

The 2020 NJCAA Tournament appearance was canceled because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Blue Dragons received an at-large bid and a No. 12 tournament seeding before the tournament was canceled.

The 1977 Blue Dragons, coached by Larry Brin, started the season on a roll by going 19-0 in the regular season. Hutchinson then won its first Region VI championship by an average of 27 points per game, defeating Highland 61-53 in the championship game to increase the winning streak to 23 games.

In order for the 1977 Blue Dragons to win it all, they needed five more wins in Overland Park. They got the first three to run the winning streak to 26 games with wins over Monroe College (51-47), Faulkner State (85-61) and St. Clair College (70-58) in the quarterfinals. The win streak came to an end in the national semifinals after Panola College defeated HutchCC 62-56. The 1977 Blue Dragons finished fourth after falling in the consolation game to Temple College.

Jeanie Martin and Connie Wilkins were named to the 1977 NJCAA All-Tournament Team.

The 1978 Blue Dragons’ bid for a repeat trip to nationals was halted in the Region VI championship game by Cowley County. From that point, the Blue Dragon women had great season after great season, but fell short in the postseason, advancing to only two Region VI semifinal rounds over the next 30 seasons.

In 2008-09 – head coach John Ontjes’ second season at HutchCC – the Blue Dragons finally returned to the national stage. After defeating rival Seward County 53-51 in the Region VI championship game, Hutchinson headed to the Bicentennial Center in Salina for the NJCAA Tournament. It took overtime, but the Blue Dragons fell in the opening round of their first national tournament appearance in 32 seasons to Shelton State 60-59. The Blue Dragons topped Middle Georgia 65-59 in a consolation game, but finished the 2009 tournament 1-2 after a 67-61 loss to Vincennes University.

Hutchinson advanced to the 2010 Region VI semifinals and 2011 championship game, but were upset in both seasons.

In 2012, the Blue Dragons weren’t going to be denied. Hutchinson completed its second undefeated regular season in school history (29-0) and won the program’s third Region VI title with a defensive struggle against Independence (43-42) in the championship game.

Led, by All-Americans Jackie Patterson and Laura Patrick, HutchCC overpowers Meridian (75-42) and Walters State (62-46) to return to the national semifinals for the second time. In Hutchinson’s semifinal matchup with perennial power Central Arizona, the Blue Dragons pulled away late for a 69-56 victory and a berth in the program’s first national championship game.

No. 1 Trinity Valley put the Blue Dragons in a deep hole early in the 2012 championship game with a barrage of first-half 3-pointers and build a 20-point lead in the second half. The Dragons pulled within seven points with four minutes to go, but the Cardinals won the game 69-55 and snapped HutchCC’s 36-game winning streak. Patrick, Patterson and Chelsea Small were all named to the All-Tournament team.

The 2013 Blue Dragons suffered only one loss in the regular season and repeated as Jayhawk West and Region VI champions. Hutchinson opened with a resounding 77-55 victory over ASA and then won a nail-biter 73-71 over Northwest Florida State when Jamie Patrick hit two free throws with 2 seconds remaining in regulation.

Central Arizona exacted some revenge in a second-straight national semifinal matchup with the Blue Dragons. Central held HutchCC to a frigid 22 percent shooting and a season-low 10 points in the first half and toppled the Dragons 52-40. The 2013 Blue Dragons wound up third in the tournament with a 63-61 victory over Gulf Coast State in the consolation game. Patrick and Chrisstasia Walter were named to the All-Tournament team.

The 2013-14 Blue Dragons produced a third undefeated regular season (28 wins) and a fourth-straight conference and third-consecutive Region VI championship.

After receiving an opening-round bye as the No. 3 overall seed in the national tournament’s new 24-team single-elimination format, a spot in another championship game seemed remote in a second-round matchup with Northern Oklahoma-Enid. HutchCC trailed by five points with 2:08 remaining in regulation. HutchCC wound up scoring the final five points of regulation and the first 12 points of overtime to advance with a 77-67 win over the Jets.

Kalani Purcell (26 points), Jamie Patrick (23 points) and Jen’Von’Ta Hill (20 points) combined for 69 points in an 87-77 quarterfinal victory over Tyler Junior College. Hutchinson then ran its winning streak to 35 games as the Blue Dragons battled through foul trouble for a 78-71 semifinal victory over Chipola. Trinity Valley once again got the best of the Blue Dragons in the 2014 championship game, 65-46. Patrick and Purcell were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

The 2014-15 Blue Dragons returned to the national tournament for a fourth-consecutive year as the No. 1 team in the NJCAA. After an opening-round bye, Kalani Purcell had 25 points and 17 rebounds in an 80-61 second-round win over South Georgia Tech. HutchCC’s defense locked down on No. 5 Northwest Florida State, holding the Raiders to 29.4 percent shooting in a 68-54 quarterfinal victory.

Purcell had 21 points and Cynthia Petke was huge down the stretch with 16 points and 10 rebounds as Hutchinson advanced to a third national championship game in four seasons with a 63-55 semifinal win over Walters State.

Facing Chipola in the finals, Hutchinson’s offense struggled (34.6 percent) and scored only17 points in the first half of a 54-46 loss to the Indians. Purcell and Petke earned All-Tournament team recognition.

Not making the tournament field in 2016, the Blue Dragons returned to the national stage as the Region VI champion and a No. 4 seed for the national tournament, which was now at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas. Taking a 31-game winning streak into the national tournament, the Blue Dragons received a No. 4 national seed and an opening-round bye. Despite career highs of 26 points and eight 3-pointers from Taylor Stahly, the Blue Dragons saw an early 11-point over Jones County slip away and Hutchinson was upset in the second round 91-82.

National Tournament appearance No. 8 came in 2018 as an at-large selection and a No. 18 tournament seed. Returning to Lubbock, the Blue Dragons made only 3 of 20 shots in the first half and fell to San Jacinto-North 62-51. Dejanae Roebuck had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead Hutchinson, while Tia Bradshaw finished with 12 points.

The 2019 Blue Dragons made it three-straight appearance in Lubbock, doing so once again as an at-large selection and a No. 13 tournament seed. Hutchinson was 30-3 entering the tournament.

Makayla Vannett led the way in the opening-round with career highs of 20 points and six 3-pointers as Hutchinson finally won a tournament game on the Rip Griffin Center court in its third try with an 81-60 win over No. 20 Western Nebraska. Abby Ogle also scored a career-high 16 points to power the Blue Dragons past the Cougars, who were the top 3-point shooting team in the NJCAA, but were held to 9 of 32 from distance.

The Blue Dragons then took aim at No. 4 overall seed Angelina in the second round. Despite serious front-court foul trouble, the Blue Dragons prevailed and ousted Angelina 72-59. Vannett once again led the Blue Dragons with 18 points and four 3-pointers. Jada Mickens had 13 points and Bradshaw had 11. Tijuana Kimbro was huge off the bench with all the foul trouble, scoring 12 points, eight in the second half.

Hutchinson moved to 6-0 all-time in quarterfinal games in tournament history with a 66-50 win over No. 5 seed Odessa. Vannett led the Blue Dragons in scoring third for the third-straight game with 19 points. Roebuck had 14 points and Bradshaw had 11 points.

The 2019 Blue Dragons’ magical Lone Star State run came to an end in the national semifinals as Hutchinson fell to No. 7 New Mexico 60-54.

Makayla Vannett and Dejanae Roebuck were named to the 2019 All-Tournament team.

After the pandemic-cancelled 2020 season, the Blue Dragons returned to the national stage after winning the Region VI championship and entered the tournament as the No. 19 seed. The Blue Dragons defeated 14th-seed Casper College 73-70 in the opening round, but fell to No. 3 overall seed Georgia Highlands 79-71. Mele Kailahi was named to the 2022 NJCAA All-Tournament team after finishing with 33 points and 18 rebounds with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds against Casper.