BLUE DRAGONS EARN KEY VICTORY OVER PIRATES

Jada Mickens scored 20 points to lead the No. 22 Blue Dragon Women to a 67-52 victory over Independence on Saturday at the Sports Arena. (Allie Schweizer/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

February 24, 2018

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The No. 22-ranked Hutchinson Community College Women's Basketball team moved into a second-place tie and picked up a huge head-to-head tiebreaker with Independence, defeating the Pirates 67-52 on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

The Blue Dragons improve to 24-5 overall and moves into a tie for second place in the Jayhawk Conference at 20-5 with Independence, now 22-6 overall. Saturday's win gives Hutchinson the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Pirates. The Blue Dragons now have the inside track to the Region VI Tournament No. 2 seed heading into Monday's season finale at Dodge City.

Winning its 15th-straight game over Independence, Hutchinson's defense held the Pirates to their second-lowest offensive output and season-low shot percentage of the season. Independence was 18 of 59 overall, including 2 of 17 shooting in a third quarter where the Blue Dragons took the game over. Leading by four points at halftime, the Blue Dragons outscored the Pirates 25-7 in the third quarter.

Blue Dragon forwards Jada Mickens and Dejanae Roebuck led the way against Independence.

Mickens scored a game-high 20 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field and 6 of 6 from the foul line. Mickens had seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Roebuck posted her 11th double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Roebuck also had three steals.

Mickens and Roebuck had two 3-pointers each.

Sophomore Alicia Brown had 14 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Kayla Barber had seven points.

The Blue Dragons were 23 of 54 shooting (42.6 percent), hitting 8 of 18 3-pointers and 13 of 17 from the free-throw line. The Dragons had a 41-34 rebounding advantage with 18 assists and 14 turnovers. The Dragons also blocked seven shots.

No Independence player scored in double figures. Victoria Mikkelsen and Jordan Schoenberger had nine points each to lead the Pirates. Fatarah Kinnard and Mychaell Gray had seven each.

Indy hit 2 of 23 3-pointers and was 11 of 23 from the foul line.

The Blue Dragons trailed 14-9 after Erica Moore hit a 3-pointer with 1:28 to play in the first quarter. Another Pirate 3-pointer by Gray gave the Dragons a 17-11 deficit with 7:32 to play in the second quarter. The Blue Dragons then went on a 15-2 run over the next 4:30 to take a 24-19 lead on a Barber putback.

Roebuck hit a 3-pointer with 1:26 to play in the second for a 29-23 Blue Dragon lead, but Dakota Corle scored with 29 seconds left to give Hutch a 29-25 lead at halftime.

The Blue Dragons started their dominant third quarter with seven-straight points on a Mickens 3, Brown putback and Roebuck jumper for a 36-25 lead with 7:16 to go. The Dragons then tacked on an 11-4 run to go up 47-29 after a Roebuck layup with 2:45 to play. Kelsey Brett then hit a 3-pointer and two free throws by Mickens gave the Dragons a 52-32 lead with 1:36 to play. Coretta Hopkins then gave the Dragons their largest lead of the game at 22 with a jumper at the 23-second mark for a 54-32 lead.

The Dragons hit 9 of 19 shots, including 4 of 7 3-pointers in the third quarter. Indy was 2 of 17 overall and 0 of 6 from distance in a 25-7 Dragon third period.

The Blue Dragons travel to Dodge City on Monday at 5:30 p.m. and will play host to a Region VI Tournament opening-round game on Thursday at the Sports Arena. Opponent and game time will be announced Tuesday morning.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 33-11 overall, 12-2 in games played in Hutchinson. … Jada Mickens posted her fifth 20-point game of the season, the first in 14 games. … The Blue Dragons are now 4-5 when trailing after the first quarter. … This was the 24th time the Dragons have held an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting. … The 2018 Blue Dragons are now seventh on the all-time list with 135 blocked shots.