DRAGONS, PIRATES BATTLE FOR SHARE OF KJCCC LEAD WEDNESDAY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The four-team logjam atop the Jayhawk Conference will get a little thinner Wednesday night as two of the four teams involved go head to head.

The No. 18 Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team travels to Independence for a 6 p.m. showdown on Wednesday at the ICC Fieldhouse. Hutchinson (13-2), Independence (11-3), Seward County (13-2) and Cowley (13-2) are all tied for first place in the Jayhawk with 9-2 league records.

Wednesday's game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 5:50 p.m. with Daren Dunn (play-by-play) and Rusty Hilst (analysis) calling the action. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will also stream the game live beginning at 5:50 p.m.

Now riding an 11-game winning streak entering play on Wednesday, the Blue Dragons have returned to the NJCAA Division I Rankings for the first time in the regular season at No. 18. After Saturday's 77-54 victory over Allen at the Sports Arena, Blue Dragon head coach John Ontjes became the eighth coach in Jayhawk women's basketball history to reach 300 career victories.

The Blue Dragons face an Independence team that's 8-2 in its last 10 games, but 2-2 in its last four. Those losses have come to Cowley (December 6) and Seward County (last Wednesday). The Pirates rebounded to defeat Dodge City 58-47 on Saturday at Dodge City.

Two of the 2 of 4 defenses in the Jayhawk Conference will clash on Wednesday. The Pirates are No. 1 in scoring defense at 51.1 points per game allowed. Opponents are shooting 26.1 percent overall and 26.1 percent from long range. The Pirates are forcing 21.9 turnovers per game.

Hutchinson is fourth in the conference in scoring defense at 53.6 points per contest allowed. The Dragons are allowing 32.6 percent field-goal shooting and 23.5 percent from behind the 3-point line. The Dragons are forcing 17.8 turnovers per game.

Hutchinson and Independence are also the Nos. 2 and 3 rebounding teams in conference. The Dragons average 46.3 rebounds per game with 15.7 offensive rebounds. Freshman Jada Mickens is No. 1 in the KJCCC individually at 11.2 rebounds per game. Teammate Dejanae Roebuck is second at 10.2 boards per contest.

Indy averages 44.7 rebounds per game, grabbing 12.5 boards per contest.

Offensively, Hutchinson has shot at least 40 percent in two-straight games following a streak of four games in a row shooting less than 40 percent. Hutch is averaging70.1 points per game shooting 40.1 percent overall and 31.1 percent from 3-point range.

Mickens is Hutch's leading scorer and No. 3 scorer in the Jayhawk Conference at 16.3 points per game. Roebuck is at 12.3 points per game and sophomore Alicia Brown is at 12.1 points per game.

Independence is scoring 73.5 points per game, which ranks No. 4 in the conference. The Pirates are shooting 43.6 percent overall and 29.7 percent from 3-point range.

The Pirates are balanced offensively with five players averaging 8-plus points per game. Alek Akuen is Independence's leading scorer at 11.8 points per game. She shoots 55.7 percent from the field. Erica Moore averages 11.3 points per game and is a 41.3 percent shooting from 3-point range.