STEVE CARPENTER - Hutchinson CC Sports Information
HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The No. 4-ranked Hutchinson Community College Women's Basketball team puts its eight-game winning streak on the line Saturday with a tough Jayhawk Conference road trip to Cowley College.
Tipoff for the final regular-season matchup against a Jayhawk East opponent is at 5:30 p.m. at Scott Auditorium in Arkansas City.
The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) beginning at 5:20 p.m. with Steve Carpenter (play-by-play) and Daren Dunn (analyst) calling the action. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will provide a videostream, also beginning at 5:20 p.m.
The Blue Dragons begin the season's second half on Saturday and will do so by playing the second game of a stretch of five games in 11 days.
While the Blue Dragons eventually cruised to a 77-27 win over the Bethany College JV on Wednesday, Cowley enters the contest after a 79-71 upset loss on Wednesday at Dodge City.
Hutchinson and Seward County are tied atop the Jayhawk West standings at 6-0.
The Blue Dragons have the No. 1 scoring offense and No. 1 scoring defense in the KJCCC. Allowing 49.8 points per game, the Blue Dragons are ranked No. 4 in the NJCAA in scoring defense and No. 3 in field-goal defense. Hutchinson is also forcing the ninth-most turnovers in the NJCAA at 24.1 takeaways per game.
Blue Dragon sophomore Abby Ogle, the reigning KJCCC and NJCAA Player of the Week, has been on a tear over her last five games. Ogle is averaging 18.8 points shooting 62.2 percent, 8.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 5.4 steals per game.
The Dragons take on a talented Tiger team that is tied for second in the Jayhawk East at 4-3. Cowley is 8-2 this season at Scott Auditorium.
The up-tempo, pressure-defense Tigers are sixth in the KJCCC in scoring at 74.1 points per game and third in field-goal percentage at 42.7 percent. Defensively, the Tigers are fifth in points allowed at 59.2 points per game.
Cowley freshman Seanna Boltz is Cowley's leading scorer at 15.0 points per game, sixth best in the KJCCC. Boltz set a Cowley single-game record with nine 3-pointers in a 31-point effort at Colby on January 4. Boltz was limited to five points on 2 of 9 shooting in the loss Wednesday at Dodge City.
The Blue Dragons have won 12 consecutive games over the Tigers dating back to 2004.
Hutchinson turns around and play host to Northwest Tech on Monday at the Sports Arena before road games to close the stretch at Garden City and Pratt next week.