DRAGONS EARN AT-LARGE BID TO NJCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

The Blue Dragon women's basketball team react after hear the news that it earned an at-large bid to the NJCAA Tournament on Sunday at a Selection Show watch party in the Club 1928 Room at the Sports Arena. (Steve Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

March 16, 2025

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team earned their 13th all-time appearance in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament, receiving an at-large bid to the 2025 tournament on Sunday afternoon.

Seeded 11th in the 24-team field, the Jayhawk Conference champion Blue Dragons (28-4) will play South Georgia Tech (25-6) at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 at the Ford Casper Center in Casper Wyoming in the opening round.

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The Blue Dragons will return to the very court where they captured their first NJCAA National Championship last season when they defeated Northwest Florida State 88-80 in overtime in the championship game to completed a 37-0 season.

This season, the Blue Dragons spent nine weeks at No. 1 in the national rankings. They slipped as low at No. 11 before finishing at No. 9 in the final regular-season poll. The Dragons defeated Dodge City 75-67 in overtime in the regular-season finale to claim a share of the KJCCC title.

Hutchinson then defeated Colby 59-49 in the Region 6 Tournament quarterfinals before being eliminated in the semifinal round by Coffeyville 45-42 on Friday in Hays.

South Georgia Tech enters the tournament on a 13-game winning streak after cruising through the Region 17 Tournament semifinals and championship game. Tech defeated Andrew College 96-50 in the semifinals and earned a spot in national tournament with an 84-61 win over East Georgia State.

The last loss Tech suffered was on January 18, an 84-80 loss to East Georgia State.

The Hutchinson-South Georgia Tech winner will advance to play No. 6 seed Three Rivers in the second round of the NJCAA Tournament. That game would be played at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, March 28.

This will be the second all-time tournament meeting between Hutchinson and South Georgia State. The Blue Dragons and Hawks met in the 2015 national tournament in Salina. The Blue Dragons won that second-round matchup 80-61 and advanced to the championship game at the Bicentennial Center.

Hutchinson is 24-12 in 12 all-time NJCAA National Tournament appearances. The Blue Dragons are 5-2 in opening-round matchups.

Region 6 champion Dodge City is the only other Jayhawk Conference team to make the field. The Conquistadors earned the No. 4 overall seed and will play the winner of Arizona Western and State Fair in the second round on Thursday, March 27.

Chipola College is the tournament's No. 1 overall seed.

Previous Blue Dragon opponent Murray State earned a tournament bid after winning the Region 2 Tournament in Oklahoma. The Aggies are the No. 14 seed and will play 19th-seed Wallace State.