COFFEYVILLE UPENDS BLUE DRAGONS IN REGION VI QUARTERFINALS

Natalie Payne works inside on Tuesday night as the Blue Dragon women's basketball team fell 73-68 to Coffeyville in the Region VI Tournament Quarterfinals at the Sports Arena. (Andrew Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

March 7, 2023

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team saw something that hadn't happened since 2001 on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Region VI Tournament at the Sports Arena.

Coffeyville's Kyleigh Ortiz drilled 8 of 11 shots from 3-point range to help fifth-seeded Coffeyville stun the fourth-seeded Blue Dragons 73-68.

The Blue Dragons' season comes to an unexpected end at 23-8. Coffeyville (20-12) advances to the Region VI semifinals on Friday to meet top-seeded Dodge City in Wichita.

Ortiz scored an opponent season-high 26 points on Tuesday. She tied an opponent school record for 3-pointers in a game originally set by Cloud County's Miklanet Tennel, who hit eight 3-pointers against Hutchinson in 2001.

Ortiz hit five 3-pointers in a third quarter that Hutchinson made several runs a trying to completely eclipse several nine-point deficits.

The Dragons looked to have finally turned the corner late in the third quarter when Kali Howard converted a three-point play and Morgan Browning's steal and layup pulled Hutchinson within 46-44 with 1:57 to play in the third quarter. Ortiz answered on the other end with her fifth 3-pointer of the quarter, stopping the Dragons' closest advance for the remainder of the game.

Browning led the Blue Dragons with 16 points on 6 of 12 shootings with a 3-pointer. She also had a career-high-tying four steals.

Howard closed with 13 points and six rebounds. Mya Williams scored 10 points, while Monae Duffy had nine points and nine rebounds.

Williams finishes her tremendous Blue Dragon career as the program's second-leading scorer with 1,163 points.

The Blue Dragons finished the game shooting 38.3 percent (23 of 60), hitting 6 of 17 3-pointers and 16 of 22 from the free-throw line. The Dragons were out-rebounded 32-30. Hutchinson had just 11 turnovers.

In addition to Ortiz's 26-point effort, Tetona Woods-Blackowl had 14 points and eight assists for the Red Ravens. Jordynn conner had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Coffeyville shot 44.8 percent for the game (22 of 49), hitting 11 of 21 3-pointers and 18 of 26 from the free-throw line.

After a couple of early lead changed, two Duffy free throws with 7:40 remaining gave Hutchinson a 6-4 lead. Hutchinson's offense went ice cold for the remainder of the quarter. The Dragons went without a field goal for 8 minutes, 24 seconds and scored only one points over the remainder of the first period – a Natalie Payne free throw with 6:13 to play in the quarter. Ortiz hit two early 3-pointers as Coffeyville went on a 10-1 run to lead 14-7 with 5:03 to play in the quarter.

Neither team scored for the remainder of the quarter. Hutchinson went on a scoreless string of 6 minutes, 37 seconds. The Ravens didn't score for 5:32.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Bree Horyna and Journey Armstead pulled the Blue Dragons within 17-15 with 7:27 to play in the second quarter. The Dragons went into another cold spell from the floor, going 7:12 without a field goal. Coffeyville used a 7-0 run to build a 24-15 lead with 4;09 to play. The Dragons closed the half on an 8-2 run and pulled within 27-23 after a Williams' bucket just before the halftime buzzer.

Every Hutchinson third-quarter advance was met by an Ortiz 3-pointer. Armstead hit two free throws with 5:69 to play in the quarter to pull Hutchinson within 33-30, but Coffeyville answered with an Ortiz trey and Woods-Blackowl layup for a 38-30 lead. After Browning's steal and layup pulled the Dragons within 46-44, Ortiz hit from distance again. After a Bailey Layman layup with 16 seconds to play in the period, Coffeyville led 53-47 after three quarters.

Coffeyville broke the game open with a 9-2 run early in the final quarter, taking a 61-52 lead after a Jordan Snyder layup with 7:16 to play. Hutchinson's defense held the Ravens without a field goal for the final 5:07 and got as close as five points. The Ravens sank 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

GAME NOTES: The Blue Dragons are now 66-38 all-time in the Region VI Tournament, including 20-17 in the quarterfinal round. … The Dragons are now 18-14 all-time against Coffeyville. … The Ravens won at the Sports Arena for the first time since 2002. … Hutchinson is 3-7 all-time against Coffeyville in the Region VI Tournament.