DRAGONS FALL TO NO. 21 BUTLER IN TOUGH LOSS AT ARENA
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Sophomore Mya Williams scored a team-high 22 points, but the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team suffered some tough luck at the free-throw line as No. 21 Butler defeated the Blue Dragon 73-67 on Saturday at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons fall to 19-6 overall and 12-6 in the Jayhawk Conference. Hutchinson will travel to Coffeyville at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday for a key KJCCC battle. Hutchinson is in fourth place in the KJCCC and Coffeyville is one game behind the Blue Dragons in fifth place.
The Blue Dragons missed 9 of 12 free throws in the first half and finished 17 of 29 at the foul line in the six-point loss to the Grizzlies, which snapped a 13-game winning streak at the Sports Arena for the Dragons.
The Dragons were also out-shot 58.6 percent to 38.6 percent.
Williams moved past Heather Robben (2008-10) into third place on the Blue Dragon career scoring list with her 22-point performance. Williams hit 5 of 9 3-pointers and was 7 of 15 from the field overall. Williams now has 1,078 career points.
Strapped with foul trouble, freshman Monae Duffy finished with 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting. Duffy finished with four rebounds.
Freshman Journey Armstead had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Sophomores Kali Howard and Morgan Browning scored nine points each.
The Blue Dragons shot 22 of 57 from the field, including 6 of 21 from 3-point range. The Dragons were out-rebounded 30-27. The Dragons had only 10 turnovers to Butler's 18.
Freddie Wallace led the Grizzlies with 24 points, going 8 of 12 from the field and 7 of 11 from the foul line. Wallace also had seven rebounds. Maycee James finished with 16 points and Syncere Herrod had 11 points.
Butler sank 25 of 44 total field goals, going only 2 of 7 from the free-throw line and 21 of 30 from the free-throw line.
The first quarter had three lead changes and two ties. Williams hit an early 3-pointers to knot the score at 5-all with 8:13 to play in the period. Duffy hit a jumper with 6:39 to go for an 11-10 Dragon lead. Wallace followed with just her second 3-point goal of the season as Butler outscored Hutchinson 14-5 over the remainder of the quarter to take a 24-19 lead after 10 minutes.
Butler scored the first six points of the third quarter to build the first of three 11-point leads in the game at 30-19. The Dragons answered with a 9-2 run over the next 5 minutes and pulled within 32-28 after an Armstead three-point play with 32 seconds left in the half. Butler had the final salvo of the half when Randi Harding hit a 3-pointer with 7 seconds to play to give the Grizzlies a 35-28 halftime lead.
Back-to-back James layups pushed the Butler lead to 43-32 with 7:59 to play in the third quarter. Williams hit a pair of 3-pointers in a 10-2 run that pulled Hutchinson within 45-42 with 3:43 to play. The Dragons pulled within a single point at 54-53 after two Williams free throws with 8 seconds to go, but Herrod made two free throws with 3 seconds left to give Butler a 56-53 lead after three quarters.
Hutchinson went without a field goal for 4 minutes, 51 seconds in the second half and Butler built a third 11-point lead at 69-58 after a Wallace basket. The Dragons then scored seven-straight points, pulling within 69-65 after a Williams 3-pointer with 4:04 to play. Butler held on for the win after the Dragons scored just two points in the final 4 minutes of the game.
GAME NOTES – This was Butler's first season sweep of the Blue Dragons since 2018. … The Dragons are now 59-34 all-time vs. Butler, 29-14 at the Sports Arena. … The Dragons are now 2-3 this season vs. ranked opponents. … Mya Williams tied Heather Robben for seventh place with 233 career free throws. … Butler is the second team this season and 12th in the John Ontjes era to shoot 50 percent in a game. … But shot a season-high field-goal percentage against the Dragons. … The Dragons are 12-1 at the Sports Arena this season. … Williams had her 15th game of 20 or more points and it was the 27th of her career.