Hutchinson CC Sports Information
For the second-straight season, the NEO Lady Norse came into the Sports Arena and upset the Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team.
After a strong offensive first quarter, the shots stopped falling for the No. 9-ranked Blue Dragons as No. 21 NEO built leads as large as 13 points before holding on for a 64-57 victory over Hutchinson on Night 1 of the Hutch Classic at the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons (3-1) will play Mineral Area at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday in the final women's game of the Hutch Classic. NEO (3-2) plays Pratt at 1 p.m.
The Blue Dragons led 26-15 with 7:30 remaining in the second quarter. From that point on, the Blue Dragons scored only six points the remainder of the half and went into halftime tied at 30-30. NEO took the lead for good by scoring the first five points of the second half and never trailed again. The Dragons shot 29.7 percent in the second half and were outscored 34-27.
Hutchinson shot a season-low 31.3 percent (21 of 67) from the floor overall, hitting 5 of 23 from 3-point range and 10 of 16 from the free-throw line. The Dragons out-rebounded NEO 43-42 and had 11 turnovers to the Lady Norse's 14.
Sophomore Whitney Brown scored a team-high 13 points. Freshman Jaslene Garcia-Howell had her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She added three assists and two blocked shots to her stat line.
Nicolly Sanches came off the bench to score a season-high 10 points, hitting 2 of 5 from 3-point range. Liva Hermane and Kaia Smithhad seven points each.
NEO had four players scoring in double figures led by Abril Ochoa's 17 points. The Lady Norse shot 38.3 percent overall (23 of 60), going 6 of 23 from 3-point range and 12 of 17 from the foul line.
An early Hermane 3-pointer gave the Dragons a 5-2 lead with 7:12 remaining. Then the only points for the next 4:16 was a Smith field goal as NEO rallied to take a 10-8 lead with 4:49 remaining in the quarter. The Dragons went on an 8-2 run over the final 2:56 of the quarter to lead 16-12 after two Sanches free throws with 20 seconds remaining in the quarter.
That run grew to 14-2 as two Garcia-Howell free throws upped the Dragon margin to 22-12 with 8:25 to play in the second quarter. A Smith field goal gave the Dragons their largest lead of the game of 11 at 26-15 with 7:30 to play. NEO closed the half on a 15-4 run, scoring the final eight points of the half to knot the score at 30-30 at halftime.
NEO had a 3-point and 2-point field goal to start the third quarter. The Lady Norse built a pair of seven-point leads at 42-35 and 44-37. Hermane scored on a pair of free throws and a Brown jumper pulled the Dragons within 44-41 with 2:14 to go, but NEO scored the next five points. Abril Ricart's layup with 22 seconds to go cut the NEO lead to 49-43 heading to the fourth quarter.
Leading 49-46, NEO went on a decisive 10-0 run as Hutchinson went scoreless for 6 minutes, 22 seconds and the Blue Dragons trailed 59-48 with 1:42 left in the game. The Dragons forced three-straight turnovers and converted on the offensive end to cut the NEO lead to 61-55, but that was as close as the Dragons got. NEO hit 6 of 8 free throws in the fourth quarter to clinch the win.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 8-3 all-time against NEO. … The Dragons had a season-low eight assists.