WEDNESDAY BEGINS KEY STRETCH FOR DRAGONS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Coming off two impressive victories last week, the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team hits a four-game stretch that will go a long week to deciding where the Blue Dragons finish in the 2018 Jayhawk Conference title race.

That stretch opens on Wednesday when the Garden City Broncbusters come to the Sports Arena for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 5:20 p.m. with Glen Grunwald (play-by-play) and Rusty Hilst (analysis) calling the action. The game will also be streamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 5:20 p.m.

Starting with Garden City (14-9, 11-8) on Wednesday, the next four Hutchinson opponent all have winning records. Butler is 15-7 overall, Barton is 13-10 and Cowley is 19-4). Only the Barton game, which is next Wednesday, February 14, is on the road.

No. 14-ranked Hutchinson is alone in second place just one game behind Seward County with eight games to play in the regular season. Cowley and Independence is right behind the Blue Dragons in a tie for third place.

The 20-3 Blue Dragons enter play on their best offensive roll of the season. In victories over Neosho County and Colby, Hutchinson has produced season-high offensive outputs of 91 and 93 points in two-straight games. The Dragons snapped a 17-game streak of not shooting 50 percent in a game with a season-high 57.6 percent effort against Colby on Sunday.

Defensively, the Dragons have allowed 50 points or less in five-straight games with opponents shooting a combined 28.3 percent with an average of 23.2 turnovers per game. Against Colby on Sunday, the Dragons allowed an opponent-low 21.0 percent shooting.

Those returns have helped the Blue Dragons put together a five-game winning streak.

Garden City enters Wednesday with a three-game win streak. The Busters are 7-3 in their last 10 games after a 69-47 victory on Saturday over Dodge City.

Garden City's Jada Washington is the Busters' leading scorer at 10.6 points per game. She is shooting 37.1 percent overall and 31 percent from 3-point range. Her 79 total assists are sixth in the Jayhawk Conference.

Talia Roberts is second in scoring for Garden City at 9.8 points per game and Abigail Green averages 9.0 points per game. Six Garden City players average at least 7.8 points per game.

The Busters are averaging 60.7 points offensively and 59.1 points defensively. Garden City ranks second in team free-throw percentage at 70.9 percent and is first in the conference in fewest turnovers per game at 15.0.

Hutchinson won the first meeting of the season with Garden City 72-59 on December 2 in Garden City. Blue Dragon freshman Jada Mickens had a huge game with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Sophomore Alicia Brown scored a career-high 21 points, while Tia Bradshaw had 15 points and Dejanae Roebuck had 12 points.

The Blue Dragons shot 46.9 percent and hit 7 of 15 3-pointers. Garden City shot 28.8 percent, but hit seven 3-pointers in the game. Washington had 11 points and Kala Jones had 10 to lead the Busters in the first meeting.