By Blue Dragon Sports Information
The No. 11-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team looks to close out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule without a loss as the Blue Dragons play host to the Cowley Tigers at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) and sister stations KWBW-AM/FM (1450/98.5) at 5:15 p.m. with Sean Boston (PBP) and Dan Naccarato (color) calling the action. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will stream the game live beginning at 5:15 p.m.
The Blue Dragons (11-0, 5-0 KJCCC) now have the ninth-best start to a season in the program's 50-year history after an impressive 77-50 victory over the Cloud County Thunderbirds on Wednesday in Concordia.
Hutchinson held its seventh opponent this season to less than 30-percent shooting, limiting Cloud County to 27.9 percent from the field.
Freshman Kiki Smith reached the 20-point mark for the third time this season with 26 points and the Blue Dragons shot 47.0 percent, turning the ball over only nine times in the victory over Cloud County.
Of the top nine best starts in program history, five of those seasons have been coached by John Ontjes.
Cowley started the season 7-0, but have dropped five games in a row entering Saturday evening. The Tigers (7-5, 1-5) dropped a 69-51 decision at No. 15 Dodge City on Wednesday. Cowley is playing through a rugged stretch of games in its schedule. The Tigers have also lost to No. 21 Coffeyville and No. 25 Barton.
The Tigers were stung by 12 Dodge City 3-pointers on Wednesday. Anna Przyszlak had 17 points and eight rebounds to pace Cowley. Jaiden Smith came off the bench to add 10 points.
Saturday's matchup will be the 56th in series history with the Tigers. Hutchinson owns a 31-24 series advantage, including 14-6 at the Sports Arena. The teams split home matches last season. Cowley won the first game 55-49 in Arkansas City, but the Blue Dragons returned the favor with a 91-70 victory over the Tigers at the Sports Arena.