GARDEN CITY, Kan. — The No. 1 Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team joined rare company on Wednesday following a 74-64 win at Garden City.
The Blue Dragons finished the regular season unbeaten at 30-0 overall, 24-0 in Jayhawk Conference play. This marks the fourth time in program history that HutchCC has finished a regular season unbeaten. The 2023-24 team joins the list of 1977, 2012 and 2014 teams to accomplish the feat.
Hutchinson and Garden City (16-13, 11-13) shared leads back and forth in the opening quarter before Hailey Jackson buried a 3-pointer to give the Blue Dragons a 14-11 lead after one.
The Blue Dragons built a five point lead in the second quarter before Garden City answered with a 9-0 run to go in front 20-16. The Blue Dragons countered with a 13-2 run to go into the halftime break in front, 29-22.
Both teams continued to go back and forth in the third quarter. Hutchinson knocked down four 3-pointers in the quarter, three of which belonged to Kiki Smith. The Blue Dragons also knocked down 7-of-8 free throws to lead 52-44.
Smith hit her sixth 3-pointer of the night at the 4:20 mark in the final frame to give the Blue Dragons its largest lead of the night, 71-52. Hutchinson made substitutions shortly thereafter, which allowed Garden City to pull within single digits, but never closer than nine.
Smith led the way for the Blue Dragons with a game-high 28 points in the win. Hailey Jackson added 19 points, going 9-of-10 from the foul stripe. Journey Armstead finished with six points, six rebounds, nine assists and three steals.
The Blue Dragons knocked down 22-of-28 free throw attempts, while also knocking down 10 3-pointers in the win.
Garden City was paced by Maya Nieto with 16 points off the bench, while Antonicia Moultrie posted a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
HutchCC is off until Tuesday, March 12, a Region VI quarterfinal game that will be played in the Sports Arena at 5:30 p.m. The opponent is to be determined, with the Region VI tournament officially getting underway with first round games on Saturday.
You can find a complete bracket for the Region VI tournament here.