BLUE DRAGONS SURVIVE FOUL TROUBLE, BUTLER COMEBACK BID

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

EL DORADO – After building a 17-point lead with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left in the third quarter, the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team survived a lot to earn a 59-53 Jayhawk Conference victory over the Butler Grizzlies on Wednesday at the Power Plant.

Hutchinson won its sixth-straight game and improved to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the league. Butler falls to 6-5 overall and 3-5 in the conference.

The Blue Dragons led 44-27 with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter. From that point, the Dragons had plenty work against them down the stretch.

+ Mired with foul trouble from the first quarter, Sara Cramer fouled out, while Jada Mickens, Alicia Brown, Dejanae Roebuck and Kayla Barber all had four fouls. The Dragons were whistled for 28 of the game's 58 combined fouls.

+ Hutchinson scored only two field goals in the final 13 minutes, 30 seconds and didn't have a field goal for the final 9:20 of the contest.

+ The Dragons missed 13 free throws, including nine in the fourth quarter.

+ Hutch committed 13 of their 23 turnovers in the second half.

With the lead down to 55-53 with 18 seconds to play after Butler's Awreona Ransom scored, the Blue Dragons missed two free throws giving the Grizzlies a chance to tie or take the lead. Butler's Erika Mattingly drove to the basket and had Coretta Hopkins step in to take a charge with 5.5 seconds to play. The Dragons hit 3 of 6 free throws in the final 5.5 seconds to finally seal the victory.

Roebuck posted her fifth double-double of the season with a game0high 15 points and 11 rebounds. She was 8 of 12 from the free-throw line.

Tia Bradshaw finished with nine points, while Cramer, Barger and Vivian Chigbu had eight points each.

The Blue Dragons shot 37.2 percent for the game (16 of 43), going 6 of 19 from 3-point range and 21 of 34 free throws. The Dragons out-rebounded Butler 41-35.

Mattingtly led the Grizzlies with 11 points on 4 of 21 shooting. Jalise Smallwood had 10 points. Butler shot 27.6 percent for the game (16 of 58), going 3 of 15 from 3-point range and 18 of 30 from the foul line. The Grizzlies turned the ball over 12 times, but had 15 steals.

The Blue Dragons got off to a great start jumping out to a 13-4 lead after a Roebuck 3-pointer with 5:06 remaining in the first quarter. The Dragons hit 7 of 14 shots, but foul trouble started to have an effect on the Dragons. A Chigbu basket with 2:04 left in the quarter gave the Dragons a 17-7 lead. The Grizzlies then scored six unanswered points and cut the Hutch lead to 17-13 with 20 seconds left after a Taylor Birch bucket with 20 seconds left Chigbu hit two free throws with 6 seconds left and Hutch led 19-13 after one quarter.

There were only six combined points in the first 5 minutes of the second quarter. Hutch lead was 22-17 with 4:22 remaining and Hutch closed the half on a 10-3 run to lead 32-20 at halftime. The Blue Dragons held Butler to 0 of 15 shooting in the second quarter.

Mickens, who was strapped with foul trouble throughout the game, scored with 8:46 to play in the third to give the Dragons a 34-20 lead. The Grizzlies then snapped a field-goal drought that lasted 13 minutes, 54 seconds when Taylor Birch hit a 3-pointer with 6:36 to play in the period. The Dragons built a 16-point lead at 42-26 after Barber rattled home a 3-pointer with 3:30 left. The Dragon lead grew to a game-high 44-27 lead after two Roebuck free throws with 2:44 left capped a 9-1 run. The Grizzlies scored the final seven points of the period, but Hutch still led 44-34 heading into the fourth quarter.

Hopkins scored with 9:20 remaining to give the Dragons a 46-34 lead. That turned out to be the Blue Dragons' final field goal of the game. The Dragons missed their final seven shot attempts, but hit 13 of 22 free throws to keep the Grizzlies at arm's length. Hutch led 52-39 after two Roebuck free throws with 5:10 left. The Grizzlies closed the gap to 55-53 with 18 seconds left.

Hutchinson will play its final pre-Christmas game on Saturday when the Blue Dragons meet the Barton Cougars at 5:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.