HUTCH WOMEN START NO. 12 IN PRESEASON NJCAA RANKINGS
| NJCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON RANKINGS | |
| 1. Gulf Coast State 2. Trinity Valley 3. Shelton State 4. Chipola 5. Salt Lake 6. New Mexico 7. Tallahassee 8. Seward County 9. Jones County 10. Odessa 11. Walters State 12. Hutchinson 13. South Georgia Tech 14. Wabash Valley 15. Northwest Florida State 16. South Plains 17. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 18. Iowa Western 19. Florida SouthWestern State 20. Harford 21. Midland 22. Tyler 23. Vincennes 24. Southern Idaho 25. Western Nebraska |
200 192 184 176 168 160 152 144 136 128 120 112 104 96 88 80 72 64 56 48 40 32 24 16 8 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Cochise; Collin County; San Jacinto-North. | |
HutchCC Sports Information
Already a preseason pick to win the Jayhawk Conference, the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team opens the new season ranked No. 12 in the NJCAA Division I Women's Preseason Rankings released on Tuesday.
This is the ninth-straight season that the Blue Dragons are ranked in the NJCAA preseason rankings. This is the first time since 2010 that Hutchinson isn't ranked in the Top 10.
The Blue Dragons come off a 33-2 season in 2016-17 where they won the Jayhawk Conference championship and captured the Region VI Tournament championship. The Blue Dragons were upset in the second round of the NJCAA Tournament.
Eleventh-year head coach John Ontjes has just three players returning from last season.
Guard Alicia Brown is the only player back who played in all 35 games last season and started in three. Brown averaged 7.1 points and 4.7 rebounds with 46 assists and 39 steals. Brown shot 42.6 percent from the floor.
Also back are guard Brianna Bradshaw and forward Kayla Barber. Bradshaw averaged 9 minutes per game in 27 games last season and averaged 1.7 points per game. Barber averaged 7 minutes per game in 28 games played last year. She averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds.
The Blue Dragons and Seward County are the only Jayhawk Conference teams ranked in the preseason rankings. The Saints are No. 8.
Hutchinson's opens its season next Wednesday against the Bethany College JV at 5:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena. The Blue Dragons next play Lamar at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7 before opening conference play at Seward County on November 11.