HUTCH WOMEN STARTS NEW YEAR WITH TOUGH ROAD BATTLE

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Fresh off two holiday wins in Florida, the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team returns to conference play on Wednesday with a battle against one of the two teams tied for the Jayhawk Conference lead.

The Blue Dragons (11-2, 7-2 Jayhawk) travel to Arkansas City to play the first-place Cowley Tigers (12-1, 8-1) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Scott Auditorium. The game will be broadcast live on the Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) at 5:20 p.m. Glen Grunwald (play-by-play) and Rusty Hilst (analysis) will call the action. The game will also be streamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 5:20 p.m.

The Blue Dragons, Seward County and Cloud County are all tied for second in the Jayhawk Conference at 7-2. Those three teams trail Cowley and Independence, both of which are 8-1). The Blue Dragons dropped their first two conference games of the season in November and have since reeled off seven-straight league wins to climb back into the conference title chase.

Hutchinson's winning streak is actually at nine after Sunshine State wins over Santa Fe College (67-57) and No. 21 Florida Southwestern State (60-56).

Shooting 39.3 percent for the season, Hutchinson has struggled with its overall shooting in the last three games, shooting only 31.2 percent win the two Florida wins and the December 9 home win over Barton.

Rebounding had been huge for the Blue Dragons, averaging 46.0 boards per game. Hutch has a plus-14.2 rebounding advantage. Over the last three games, Hutch has averaged 49.7 rebounds per game, including 19 offensive rebounds per game.

Also in that winning streak, Hutch's Jada Mickens, Dejanae Roebuck and Kayla Barber have produced a combined five double-doubles in those three games.

The Blue Dragons' staunch defense will have a huge challenge in matching up with the conference's leading scorer Kaitlyn Potter, who is averaging 24.5 points per game. Potter also leads the league in 3-point shooting with 64 total treys and is third in 3-point percentage at 43.5 percent.

The Tigers are second in the Jayhawk Conference in scoring at 78.1 points per game, third in field-goal percentage (43.1 percent) and third in 3-point percentage (33.3 percent).

Cowley started the season with nine-consecutive wins before dropping a 77-58 decision at Seward County on

November 29. Since, the Tigers have defeated Allen, Independence and Dodge City. Cowley hasn't played since December 9.

The Blue Dragons will return to the Sports Arena for the first time in 2018 on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against the Allen Red Devils.