HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The No. 1 Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team punched its ticket to the Region VI Tournament championship game following a 49-39 win over Barton on Friday afternoon in the Sports Arena.
The Blue Dragons are now 32-0 overall, and will play in the Region VI championship game for the 11th time in program history on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
HutchCC will face the winner of the 5:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday between Dodge City and Butler.
Hutchinson trailed Barton (22-10) after the first quarter, 15-10, before picking up the defensive intensity.
The Blue Dragons held Barton to 3-of-10 (30 percent) from the floor in the second quarter, while Hutchinson outscored the Cougars 20-7 to build a 30-22 lead at halftime.
Hutchinson built an 18-point lead at the 2:25 mark in the quarter, their largest lead of the contest. The Blue Dragons led 44-31 heading into the final quarter.
Neither team cracked double-figure scoring in the final frame, as the Cougars outscored Hutchinson, 8-5. The Cougars pulled within 44-33 early in the fourth quarter, but would not get any closer than that until the final 30 seconds.
Hutchinson was led by Bree Horyna with 11 points, all coming in the first half. Journey Armstead scored 10 while dishing off five assists, and Hailey Jackson finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
Barton was led by a double-double performance from Vera Ojenuwa with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Vivian Onugha had nine points and 12 rebounds.
The Blue Dragons are now 11-10 all-time in Region VI semifinal games following the win.