by Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GREAT BEND – With nearly flawless execution, the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team put together its best half this season and produced the largest winning margin in series history against the Barton Cougars.
Shooting almost 64 percent in the first half, the No. 3-ranked Blue Dragons led by as many as 37 points in the late in the second quarter and sprinted to a 93-48 victory over the Jayhawk West third-place Cougars at the Barton Gym, Hutch’s eighth-straight win over the Cougars.
The Blue Dragons, now 22-0, maintained their one-game lead over the No. 8-ranked Seward County Saints at 13-0 in league play. Hutchinson and Seward will meet at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Sports Arena. Barton falls to 14-7 and 7-5.
The Blue Dragons scored the first six points of the game and immediately pulled away from there. Hutch’s first 20-point lead came with 2:43 left in the opening quarter after an Abby Ogle three-point play gave the Blue Dragons a 23-3 lead. Hutch hit 12 of 17 shots in the opening quarter and held Barton to 2 of 16 shooting to lead 31-8 after the first period.
The Dragons scored the first nine points of the second quarter to boost the lead to 40-8 with 6:12 remaining in the half. Roebuck, who had 18 points in the first half, converted a three-point play to give the Blue Dragons their largest lead of the half of 37 with a 51-14 lead with 2:25 left. The Cougars did score the final seven points of the period, but Hutchinson led 53-23 at halftime.
Hutch finished the first half shooting a blistering 63.6 percent (21 of 33) in the first two quarters and held Barton to 25 percent shooting and nine turnovers.
The 53 points were the second-most points scored in a half this season. The previous largest margin of victory over Barton was 40 points.
Roebuck finished with a game-high 24 points on 9 of 13 shooting, and nine rebounds. Roebuck jumped four spots on the Blue Dragon career scoring list to 17th place with 793 points.
Milan Schimmel (Umatilla) 15 points on 3 of 4 shooting from 3-point range with four assists and two steals. Tia Bradshaw hit 3 of 4 from distance and finished with 13 points and five assists. Makayla Vannett (Ojibwe) hit a pair of 3s and had 10 points.
Abby Ogle had seven points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The Blue Dragons finished shooting 50.7 percent for the game (35 of 69), going 11 of 21 from 3-point range and 12 of 12 from the foul line. Hutchinson held a 43-34 rebounding advantage and had 25 assists on 35 makes.
