BLUE DRAGONS BOMB WAY TO WIN OVER BARTON

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Sara Cramer hit a career-high six 3-pointers while the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team rode a season-high 12 3-pointers to a seventh-straight victory on Saturday as the Blue Dragons defeated Barton 72-53 at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons improved to 9-2 overall despite shooting a season-low 28 percent (21 of 75). The Dragons are now 7-2 in the Jayhawk Conference. Barton falls to 8-5 and 5-4 as both teams enter the Christmas break.

The Dragons did their damage from deep, hitting 12 of 34 3-point attempts. Cramer nailed 6 of 13 from beyond the arc. Kayla Barber and Jada Mickens both hit career-high three 3-pointers in the game. Hutch sank four 3-pointers in the first quarter in building an 18-13 lead after one period. The Dragons hit 5 of 9 treys in the fourth quarter to help Hutchinson build leads as large as 22 in the fourth quarter.

Hutch's outside shooting opened up the middle for Mickens, who posted her fifth double-double of the season with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Mickens was 11 of 14 from the free-throw line.

Cramer finished with a career-high 18 points. Barber scored nine points and Dejanae Roebuck had eight points and nine rebounds.

Hutchinson held a 50-34 rebounding advantage, grabbing 28 offensive rebounds. Hutch outscored Barton 27-6 in second-chance points. The Blue Dragons also had a season-low seven turnovers, while forcing 16 Barton miscues.

The Blue Dragons were 18 of 22 from the free-throw line.

Juliana Chagas was 10 of 15 from the field to lead Barton with 23 points. Jaylin Stapleton had 13 points.

The Cougars shot 40.4 percent from the field (19 of 47), going 5 of 14 from 3-point range and 10 of 16 from the free-throw line.

Early 3-pointers from Cramer and Mickens helped the Dragons jump out to 10-2 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the opening quarter. The Cougars countered with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 10 with 3:27 to play. Cramer's second 3-pointer stopped that run and the lead immediately returned to eight with a Barber 3-pointer that gave the Dragons an 18-10 lead with 1:22 left in the half. Hutch led 18-13 after one quarter.

The Blue Dragons shot a frigid 3 of 18 in the second quarter, but two more 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free-throw shooting helped outscore Barton 15-12 in the period. The Cougars got back within 18-15 when Cramer hit from long range with 8:24 to play. Leading 21-17, Mickens converted a three-point play to push the lead back to seven. That play sparked a 12-0 Hutch run. Two Tia Bradshaw free throws with 4:28 left in the half capped the run and gave Hutch a 33-17 lead. The Cougars then held the Blue Dragons scoreless for the remainder of the half and scored eight in a row to cut the Dragon lead to 33-25 at halftime.

The Barton run continued into the third quarter with an Irene Chukwudi bucket to cut the Dragon lead to 33-27. Hutch finally scored its first field goal in 8 minutes, 5 seconds with a Mickens putback at the 6:19 to go. That pushed the Dragon lead back to double figures at 39-29. Leading 40-32, a Cramer 3-pointer capped an 8-0 Hutch run to lead 48-32 with 1:02 to play in the third. The Dragons scored eight second-chance points to lead 48-36 after three quarters.

Two Mickens free throws with 8:59 left gave the Dragons their largest lead to that point at 17. An offensive rebound and putback by Roebuck pushed it to 55-37 with 7:17 to play. The Dragons that their best offensive quarter of the game, outscoring Barton 24-17 hitting 8 of 20 overall shots, including five 3-pointers.

The Blue Dragons will next play Santa Fe College on December 29 in Fort Myers, Florida.