CASPER, Wyo. — The No. 1 Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team blitzed No. 8 New Mexico Junior College, 76-45 in the national quarterfinals on Friday afternoon in the Ford Wyoming Center.
Hutchinson (35-0) will play in the national semifinals on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT/4 p.m. MT against the winner of No. 5 Gulf Coast State (FL) and No. 20 Eastern Arizona.
The Blue Dragons held the Thunderbirds scoreless the final 8:13 of the game, while scoring the games final 17 points.
HutchCC held a slim 19-13 lead after the first quarter, but dominated the next three frames. The Blue Dragons led 37-21 at halftime and 59-38 after three quarters.
New Mexico (27-7) struggled to shoot the floor, knocking down just 16 of 55 (29%) shots, including 3 of 21 from behind the arc.
The Blue Dragons knocked down 29 of 60 (48%) of its shots, including 6 of 21 (29%) 3-pointers.
Hutchinson dominated the glass, outrebounding the T-Birds by 19, 47-28.
Hailey Jackson collected her third 20-point outing of her freshman campaign, leading the Blue Dragons with 23 points. Kiki Smith finished with 16 points, knocking down four 3-pointers. Monae Duffy secured her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
Journey Armstead and Akaysha Muggeridge each scored 10 points, while Muggeridge also brought down eight rebounds and dished a team-high six assists.
Filipa Calisto and Pania Davis each had 10 to pace the Thunderbirds' scoring efforts.
The Blue Dragons have now qualified for seven national semifinal appearances in program history. Hutchinson is 3-3 in the previous six.
Saturday's game will be broadcasted live on Hutchinson's #1 Hit Music Station, My 93-1 with Sean Boston on the call from Casper. Pregame coverage starts at 4:45 p.m. CT.