WILLIAMS’ HUGE GAME HELPS DRAGONS EXTEND WIN STREAK TO 9

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Hutchinson Community College freshman guard Mya Williams tied for the fifth-highest single scoring performance in Blue Dragon history on Saturday night at the Sports Arena.

Williams scored a career-high 37 points to pace the No. 25-ranked Blue Dragons to an 86-75 victory over the Colby Trojans on Pink-Out Night.

The victory extended the Blue Dragons' season-high win streak to nine games. Hutchinson is now 22-4 overall and moved into a first-place tie in the Jayhawk Conference with Independence at 16-5. The Pirates lost to Pratt on Saturday to create the tie atop the league standings. The Blue Dragons have a short turnaround before heading to Northwest Tech on Monday. Colby fell to 8-16 and 5-14.

Williams tied Amy Ansel (1995) for the fifth-highest single-game scoring performance in Blue Dragon history. Williams hit 12 of 16 shots overall, including tying a career high with seven 3-pointers in eight attempts. Williams also hit 6 of 7 from the free-throw line. The freshman from Waxahachie, Texas, also established a new career high with eight rebounds.

Williams maintained the torrid pace she set in the fourth quarter on Wednesday at Dodge City. The Blue Dragon guard scored 19 points in the opening quarter against Colby to stake the Blue Dragons to a 31-12 lead. Williams hit all six of her field-goal attempts, including five 3-pointers. Combined with the fourth quarter at Dodge City, Williams had 36 points and eight 3-point goals over that two-quarter span.

The Blue Dragons shot 78.6 percent (11 of 14) in the first quarter in building leads as large as 23 points. The Dragon offense went into a two-quarter slumber, going only 9 of 26 shots from the floor, as Colby outscored the Dragons 43-31 over the middle two quarters and pulled to within four points twice late in the third quarter. Williams and Tor'e Alford combined for 16 points in the fourth quarter to secure the victory, Hutchinson's 15th in a row over the Trojans.

Kalyn Ervin scored 16 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Alford finished with 13 points and seven assists.

Freshman Kali Howard just missed a double-double with nine points and a career-high eight rebounds.

The Blue Dragons shot 49.1 percent for the game (28 of 57), hitting 12 of 23 from 3-point range and 18 of 25 from the free-throw line. Hutchinson out-rebounded Colby 41-31, but had to overcome 21 turnovers.

De'jah Vigilante scored 22 points to lead the Trojans. She hit 9 of 11 shots and had five assists and six steals. Zoe Wiltz had 13 points.

Colby shot 42.0 percent for the game (29 of 69), going 6 of 22 from 3-point range and 11 of 14 from the free-throw line.

Four 3-pointers – three by Williams and one by Natalie Payne – powered the Blue Dragons to an 18-1 lead. Colby didn't score its first field goal until the 5:12 mark of the opening quarter. Back-to-back Williams' 3-pointers gave the Dragons a 29-6 lead with 1:20 to play in the first quarter. Colby scored six straight points, but Janaya Washington closed the quarter with a buzzer-beater 17-footer for a 21-12 lead after the first quarter.

Hutchinson's offense slowed down and Colby started to gain some traction. The Trojans scored the first six points of the second quarter to pull within 31-18 with 8:09 to play in the second quarter. The teams traded baskets for most of the second quarter. An Ervin drive to the hoop for a score gave the Dragons a 45-27 lead with 45 seconds left. Colby scored the final five points of the period to cut the Blue Dragon lead to 45-32 at halftime.

The Trojans extended that run to 12-0 over the first 2:20 of the third quarter. Wiltz hit a 3-pointer with 7:40 left to cut the lead to 45-39. The Blue Dragons were just 3 of 9 shooting from the foot, but were 11 of 12 from the free-throw line to keep Colby at arm's length. Colby twice cut the Dragon lead to four points, but Howard had a putback and two free throws after each of those occasions. The Dragons led 62-55 after three quarters.

The Dragons started the fourth quarter with a Washington layup, Alford layup and Williams 3-pointer to rebuild a 14-point lead at 69-55 with 8:17 remaining. The closest Colby got after that surge was 10 points.

GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are 55-14 all-time against Colby. … The Dragons extended their home-court win streak to 20. … The 31 points in the first quarter were the most for a first quarter and second highest single quarter this season. … Hutchinson had its eighth game of 10 or more 3-pointers. … Colby had opponent season highs of 29 field goals and 14 steals. … Williams is the 16th Blue Dragon with seven or more 3-pointers in a game. … Tor'e Alford became the ninth Blue Dragon to reach the 900 career-point mark, now at 910 points. … Alford also tied Tessa Morrow for seventh in the career 3-point list with 147 and passed Jenny Whetstone into seventh on the career assist list with 291. … Now with 213 3-pointers for the season, the 2022 Blue Dragons are sixth on the single-season 3-point list.