DRAGONS FALL IN RANKED BATTLE WITH NO. 14 BUTLER

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

EL DORADO – Held to season lows for points scored and shot percentage, the No. 18-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team dropped its first Jayhawk Conference road contest of the season on Saturday.

The Blue Dragons lost 56-44 at No. 14 Butler on Saturday at the Power Plant in El Dorado.

With its four-game winning streak snapped, Hutchinson fell to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the KJCCC. The Blue Dragons travel to Independence at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Butler is now 7-0 and 2-0 in the KJCCC with back-to-back ranked wins over Coffeyville and Hutchinson.

The Dragons scored only 15 points in the first half, but only trailed 21-15 at halftime. Hutchinson scored seven-straight points to open the second half and took a 22-21 lead after a Whitney Brown layup with 8:36 to play in the second quarter. Butler withstood that barrage and battled back to take a 38-33 lead after three quarters. The Dragons were outscored 18-11 in the fourth quarter. Butler's Kenzie Galliart scored 14 points in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Brown led the Blue Dragons with 10 points. She was the only Hutchinson player in double figures. Brown hit a pair of 3-pointers.

Freshman KaMyra Barber had nine points with six rebounds and four assists. Kaia Smith came off the bench to add eight points, tying a season high with two 3-pointers. Smith added five rebounds.

The Blue Dragons shot a season-low 31.5 percent (17 of 54), hitting 5 of 24 from 3-point range and 5 of 8 from the foul line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 33-30 and had 16 turnovers.

Galliart had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Grizzlies. Destiny Smith had nine points.

Butler shot 38.8 percent (19 of 49), going only 3 of 14 from 3-point range and 15 of 22 at the free-throw line. Butler had 10 turnovers.

The Blue Dragons scored only two points in the first 8:22 of the first quarter and trailed 10-2. Smith's jumper with 1:38 to play broke the drought. Dylan Alexander scored to cut the Butler lead to 10-6 after one quarter.

The Dragons scored nine points in the second quarter, but managed to stay close. An Alexander 3-pointer with 5:26 to play in the half pulled the Dragons within 17-15. The Dragons didn't score another point in the half, but held Butler to only four points and trailed 21-15 at halftime.

Brown opened the second half with a 3-pointer. Then after a Katie Duncan steal and layup and a Brown jumper with 8:36 to go, the Dragons led 22-21. Tied at 25, Jaden Wilson's layup gave the Dragons a 27-25 lead with 5:03 remaining. Trailing 35-33, the Dragons wound up trailing 38-33 after three quarters.

Barber scored with 9:08 to go in the fourth quarter to pull within 38-35. Then Brown hit a 3-pointer with 6:17 to go, cut the Butler lead to 40-38. Trailing 42-40, the Dragons were outscored 12-4 down the stretch and close out the game.

GAME NOTES – The Dragons are now 64-35 all-time against Butler, including 31-18 in El Dorado. … The 15 points scored in the first half were a season low and the six points in the first quarter tied a season low. … The Dragons held an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting for the sixth time in eight games.