DRAGONS SINK RECORD 39 FTS IN TOUGH WIN AT NEOSHO

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

CHANUTE – The No. 8-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team broke a program single-game record with 39 made free throws on Wednesday night at Neosho County.

The Blue Dragons needed nearly every one of them as conventional baskets were hard to come by on a tough, high-tempo defensive struggle at the Panther Gymnasium.

Making one less field goal than Neosho County, the Blue Dragons were plus 13 at the free-throw line and defeated the Panthers 87-78.

The Blue Dragons improve to 10-0 for the fifth time in head coach John Ontjes' 12 years on the bench. Now 3-0 in the Jayhawk West, the Blue Dragons turn their focus to No. 6 Butler, which comes to the Sports Arena for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.

Sophomore Dejanae Roebuck hit 11 of 13 free throws and finished with a team-high 15 points. Ogle hit her first 11 free throws – she finished 11 of 12 from the line – and closed with 13 points. Ogle was 9 of 10 from the line in the fourth quarter alone. Both Roebuck and Ogle had career highs from the foul line. Tia Bradshaw added a season-high eight free throws in 10 attempts.

The Blue Dragons sank 39 of 49 free throws to surpass the old record of 36 made free throws against Barton in 2014. The free-throw performance was a tremendous turnaround from Saturday's struggles at the stripe in a 53-41 win over Independence at the Sports Arena. Hutch sank just 12 of 29 free throws against the Pirates.

Roebuck finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. In addition to Ogle, Jada Mickens finished with 13 points. Bradshaw had 12 points and Milan Schimmel finished with 11 points.

Tijuana Kimbro played some huge minutes and finished with five points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

The Blue Dragons shot 35.5 percent for the game (22 of 62) and tied a season low with four 3-pointers on 20 attempts. The Dragons also had to overcome 29 turnovers.

Neosho County had 31 turnovers of their own and shot 37.1 percent (23 of 62), going 6 of 23 from 3-point range and 26 of 36 from the free-throw line.

The Blue Dragons out-rebounded Neosho County 49-34 with 21 offensive rebounds.

Chrissy Brown scored a game-high 21 points to lead the much-improved Panthers (4-9, 1-2). Kelcey Hinz had 18 points.

Hutchinson started off absolutely frigid, missing 17 of its first 21 shots and trailed 18-17 after one quarter. Tied at 15, Hinz hit a 3-pointer for the Panthers, but Mickens scored inside on the other end with 40 seconds left to keep the Dragon deficit at one after one quarter.

The Dragons found themselves down by a five-point margin when Calea Augustin hit a 3-pointer with 8:22 to play in the second that gave the Panthers a 24-19 lead. Still trailing 31-30, the Blue Dragons grabbed the lead on two Roebuck free throws with 3:35 to go. A Sara Cramer 3-pointer gave Hutch a 37-33 lead with 50 seconds to play. Mickens scored with 7 seconds left to preserve Hutch's four-point lead and took a 39-35 advantage into the locker room.

Neosho County tied the game at 40 on a Hinz three-point play with 8:28 to play in the third quarter. The Dragons answered with six-straight points to lead 46-40 after two Ogle free throws with 7:44 to play in the period. Leading 47-44, the Blue Dragons went on a 15-2 run that was capped by Makayla Vannett's 3-pointer with 2:44 to play in the period that gave Hutch a 59-46 lead. Hutch led 66-56 after three quarters.

Two Ogle free throws with 8:25 left gave Hutch a 72-57 lead, but the Panthers climbed back into the game with an 11-2 run to trail 74-68 with 4:20 to go. A Brown 3-pointer with 3:06 left pulled Neosho within 76-71. But Kimbro's three-point play on the next possession held off that run. The Panthers scored four un a row and Hutch's lead was down to 79-75 with 2:13 remaining. The Dragons countered with two Bradshaw free throws, then a Bradshaw steal and layup for an 83-75 lead with 59 seconds left. Hutch was 13 of 15 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.

GAME NOTES – Neosho County's 26 made free throws tied an opponent high for the season against Hutch. … The Blue Dragons are 25-2 all-time against Neosho County, winning 22 of the last 23 meetings. … There were seven lead changes and nine ties in the game.