BLUE DRAGONS DROP ROAD CONTEST AT COWLEY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

ARKANSAS CITY – The No. 8-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team suffered through a rough second quarter and couldn't quite complete the comeback on Wednesday night at Scott Auditorium.

Trailing by as many as 16 points late in the second quarter to the Cowley Tigers, the Blue Dragon got as close as one point in the fourth quarter, but Cowley pulled away late for a 70-60 Jayhawk Conference victory.

Hutchinson slipped to 23-3 overall and 17-3 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Blue Dragons will play host to the Butler Grizzlies at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Sports Arena. Cowley is now 17-9 and 12-9 in the KJCCC.

The Blue Dragons led 11-20 after the first quarter, but Cowley shot 12 of 19 with three 3-pointers and outscored the Dragons 28-14 in the second quarter to lead 38-23 at halftime. The Dragons shaved five points off the deficit at the end of the third quarter. Hutchinson pulled within one point twice, the second time when Brynne Katcher scored inside to cut the Cowley lead to 58-57 with 3:51 remaining. With the aid of eight free throws in the final 3:09, Cowley outscored the Blue Dragons 12-3 down the stretch to complete the upset.

Hailey Jackson had 18 points, nine rebounds and three steals to lead the Blue Dragons. She sat most of the first half with two fouls. Jackson moved past Kim Gwinner into ninth place on the Blue Dragon career scoring list with 960 points.

Madi Denison was next with nine points and four rebounds. Kahlen Norris and Katie Duncan finished with eight points each and Katcher had seven points and nine rebounds.

The Blue Dragons finished shooting 36.1 percent (22 of 61), hitting 5 of 25 from 3-point range and 11 of 22 from the free-throw line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 39-34 and had 16 assists and 14 rebounds.

Hattie Pyle had 20 points to lead the Tigers Alexcia Murphy had a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Elysa Martinez finished with 18 points.

Cowley shot 42.3 percent (22 of 52), hitting only 3 of 18 from 3-point range and 23 of 27 from the free-throw line. The Tigers committed 18 turnovers.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 54-25 all-time against Cowley, including 9-13 in games played in Arkansas City. … Hailey Jackson moved into the Blue Dragon single-season Top 25 scoring list, sitting 21st with 482 points. … Cowley leads the KJCCC with 10.3 made 3-pointers per game, but were held to three treys on Wednesday. … This was only the sixth time the Dragons have allowed an opponent to shoot 40 percent or better in a game. … The Dragons are 4-2 when out-rebounded in a game. … Brynne Katcher surpassed the career 700-point mark with 704 points between Hutchinson and Morton College.