COWLEY STUNS DRAGONS ON BUZZER-BEATER

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

ARKANSAS CITY – Abby Ogle's basket with 1.4 seconds to play in regulation was the 13th lead change of the Hutchinson Community College Women's Basketball team's Jayhawk Conference matchup with the Cowley Tigers.

Unfortunately for the No. 4-ranked Blue Dragons, there was one more lead change to occur.

Shontrice Austin's 27-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the Tigers a 72-70 victory over Hutchinson on Saturday night at Scott Auditorium.

Hutchinson falls to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in the Jayhawk West. The Blue Dragons had an eight-game winning streak for the season and a 12-game winning streak against Cowley snapped. The Tigers (15-3, 5-3 Jayhawk East) defeated Hutchinson for the first time since 2004.

The Blue Dragons trailed 40-33 at halftime and by a game-worst 10 points when Torri Vang's 3-pointer with 8:13 to play in the fourth quarter gave Cowley a 62-52 lead. Hutchinson answered with an 8-0 run capped by a Lauryn Mapusua 3-pointer with 5:57 left that cut the Cowley lead to 62-60.

The Dragons tied the game at 66 on two Ogle free throws with 1:51 to play. Trailing 67-66 after a Teagan Brouwer free throw, the Blue Dragons took a 68-67 lead on two Makayla Vannett free throws with 1:16 to go. Cowley regained the lead at 69-68 on two Jayden Marlnee free throws with 6.0 seconds to play.

Hutchinson advanced the ball to the front court after a timeout. Ogle drove into the lane, spun right and hit a 10-foot jumper to give the Blue Dragons a 70-69 lead with 1.4 seconds left. Cowley then advanced the ball to the front court after a Tiger timeout. Austin fired away from 27 feet and hit the game winner as the buzzer sounded.

Cowley became the first time to shoot 50 percent or better against Hutchinson since San Jacinto in the opening game of the 2018 NJCAA Tournament. The Tigers are only the fourth team to shoot 50 percent against Hutchinson in the John Ontjes era and only the seventh team to do so since 2003.

The Tigers shot right at 50 percent (26 of 52). Cowley shot 69.2 percent in the first quarter and 60.7 percent overall in the first half in scoring an opponent-high 40 points in the opening half.

The Blue Dragons shot 45.6 percent (26 of 57) for the game, shooting 50 percent in the second half.

Brooklyn Betham scored a career-high 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting to lead the Blue Dragons. Betham added six rebounds.

Ogle finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Mapusua hit a career-high-tying three 3-pointers and closed with 12 points, a career-high eight assists and seven rebounds.

The Blue Dragons were 6 of 20 from 3-point range and 12 of 15 from the free-throw line. Hutchinson was out-rebounded 32-28, but had conference season-low 14 turnovers.

Austin had 13 of her game-high 19 points in the first half to lead Cowley. Austin also had an opponent-high nine assists as well as the game-winning shot. Seanna Boltz nailed four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Marlnee is the second opponent to post a double-double against the Blue Dragons with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Tigers hit 8 of 22 from 3-point range and 12 of 18 from the free-throw line. The Tigers had a Hutchinson opponent-high 18 assists.

The Blue Dragons will play third game of a stretch of five games in 11 days at 5:30 p.m. on Monday against Northwest Tech top open Jayhawk West play.

GAME NOTES – Hutch has a 25-23 all-time series lead over Cowley. … Makayla Vannett's only 3-pointer of the game tied Tessa Morrow for fifth on the Hutchinson career 3-point list (148). … Hutch's 28 rebounds were a season low. … Hutch is 0-2 when trailing at halftime.