SAINTS DEFEAT BLUE DRAGONS WITH TWO HUGE RUNS

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

LIBERAL – The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team looked like it would recover from the first big Seward County surge to start Saturday's game at the Green House.

The Blue Dragons weren't able to recover from the second surge, though.

Seward County defeated Hutchinson 70-54 on Saturday night, snapping the Blue Dragons' three-game win streak and four-game streak over the Saints. The Blue Dragons fell to 13-4 overall and 7-4 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Dragons are off on Wednesday before returning to action next Saturday, January 15 to take on Garden City. The Saints are now 11-6 overall and 7-4 in the KJCCC.

The Saints stunned the Blue Dragons with a 16-1 run to start the game. A Tor'e Alford 3-pointer with 49 seconds left in the second quarter pulled Hutchinson within four points. The Blue Dragons trailed 28-21 at halftime.

Seward County opened the third quarter on a back-breaking 12-0 run over the first 4:01 of the period. Sierra Lynch's layup with 5:59 to play gave the Saints a 40-21 lead. Fourth-quarter 3-poiners by Alford and Mya Williams got the Blue Dragons as close as 10 twice, but the Blue Dragons fell to 2-4 in road games this season.

Williams had a team-high 20 points, going 10 of 12 from the free-throw line to lead the Blue Dragons, who tied a season-low offensive output and had a season-high 27 turnovers.

Mele Kailahi posted her third double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Kailahi is the 20th Blue Dragon player in team history to record 16 or more turnovers – the last was Jada Mickens in 2017 against Garden City.

Alford finished with nine points.

The Blue Dragons shot 32.7 percent (16 of 49), going 4 of 13 from the 3-point line and 18 of 30 from the free-throw line. The Dragons-out-rebounded Seward County 42-38.

Lynch had a game-high 24 points to lead the Saints. She added five steals, four rebounds and two assists. D'Arrah Allen had 14 points and Sydney Wetlaufer added 10 points.

The Saints shot 31.8 percent from the field (21 of 66), going 9 of 32 from 3-point range and 19 of 23 from the free-throw line. Seward finished with 18 turnovers.

After they fell behind 16-1 in the first 4:01 of the game, the Blue Dragons outscored Seward County 9-3 over the remainder of the opening quarter. An Alford jumper with 6 seconds to play cut the deficit to 10-9 after one quarter.

Four-straight points by Kailahi and strong defense pulled the Blue Dragons within 19-14 with 7:58 to play in the second quarter. Hutchinson held Seward County scoreless for the first 3:52 of the period. A Kailahi inside bucket with 2:56 remaining cut the Dragon deficit to 23-18. Alford's trey with 49 seconds to go pulled Hutch within 25-21, by Lynch buried a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to give the Saints a 28-21 lead at halftime.

Seward County gained full control of the game in the first 4:01 of the third quarter with a 12-0 run. A Lynch steal and transition layup gave the Saints a 40-21 lead. Williams tried to keep the Blue Dragons close with seven points in the period, but the Saints outscored Hutchinson 24-18 to lead 52-35 after three quarters.

The Blue Dragons couldn't close the gap any closer than 10 points in the final quarter. A 7-0 run to start the period pulled Hutchinson within 52-42 after an Alford 3-pointer with 8:28 to play. Williams hit a 3-pointer with 4:46 remaining to close within 58-48 with 4:46 to play.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 48-49 all-time vs. Seward County and 18-30 in Liberal. … This was the first time since the 2006-07 season that neither the Blue Dragons nor the Saints were nationally ranked in a matchup. … This was Mya Williams' seventh 20-point game of the season.