DRAGON RALLY FALLS SHORT AT CLOUD COUNTY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

CONCORDIA – Trailing by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, the No. 12-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team fought back against Cloud County to tie the game with 2:37 to play in regulation.

The Blue Dragons never could grab the lead late as a Kelsi Mueller 3-pointer gave Cloud County the lead for good with 2:08 to go and the Thunderbirds went on to defeat the Blue Dragons 70-63 on Wednesday at the Thunderdome.

Hutchinson falls to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons conclude a three-game road swing to open the Jayhawk Conference season at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Pratt. Cloud County improves to 5-0 and 2-0 in league play.

The Blue Dragons shot 51 percent from the floor for the game (25 of 49), but turnovers continue to hamper their overall output. The Dragons committed 21 turnovers to Cloud County's 12. The Thunderbirds owned a 19-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Freshman forward Dejanae Roebuck led Hutchinson with 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Roebuck was 5 of 11 shooting with one 3-pointer.

Freshman forward Jada Mickens was the only other Blue Dragon to score in double figures with 11 points. She added nine rebounds and five blocked shots.

Sophomores Alicia Brown and Kayla Barber scored nine points each. Tia Bradshaw and Sara Cramer scored six each.

The Blue Dragons were 6 of 15 shooting from long range and 7 of 9 from the foul line. Rebounding was tied at 28, although the Thunderbirds were a plus-five on the offensive boards.

Cloud County shot 41.4 percent for the game (24 of 58), going 5 of 15 from 3-point range and 17 of 18 from the free-throw line. The Thunderbirds had just 12 turnovers.

Mueller scored a game-high 24 points, hitting 4 of 11 3-pointers to lead the Thunderbirds. Camille Awa Baud and Scout Frame had 15 points each.

Trailing 34-26 at halftime, that deficit grew to 13 after an Awa Baud 3-pointer with 8:39 left in the third gave Cloud County a 39-26 lead. A Mickens 3-pointer at the 8:05 mark of the period stopped that Cloud County run. The Dragons then slowly whittled away at that deficit. Roebuck's layup with 2:18 left in the third quarter cut the Cloud lead to 47-42. The Dragons trailed 53-46 after three quarters.

Down 55-46 early in the fourth, Kelsey Brett started the Blue Dragon comeback with a 3-pointer at the 8:51 mark. That started an 11-2 Hutchinson run and the Blue Dragons tied the game at 57 with 5:19 to go on a Mickens jumper. The Dragons tied the game again at 59 on a Barber basket with 4:06 to go and at 61 on Tia Bradshaw's basket with 2:37 remaining.

Mueller hit a huge 3-pointer for Cloud County with 2:08 to go. The Dragons immediate got down the floor and scored in transition with a Bradshaw layup with 1:53 to play to pull within 64-63. Cloud County went on to score the final six points of the game to defeat the Blue Dragons at Concordia for the first time since 2007.