Hovpensports.com - Hutch women defend ranking against Barton

January 16, 2013

Steve Carpenter, HCC-SID
Special to Hovpensports.com

HCC WOMEN OPEN HISTORICAL NIGHT AT ARENA WITH BATTLE AGAINST BARTON

The Hutchinson Sports Arena has been around since 1952 and the venerable building and all of its history on Wednesday will play host to something that has never been achieved in NJCAA Division I basketball.

Both the Hutchinson Community College women's and men's basketball teams are ranked No. 1 at the same time. According to the NJCAA, that has never happened before.

HCC takes the court for the first time with two No. 1 teams on Wednesday when the rival Barton Cougars comes to the Arena.

The top-ranked Lady Dragons (17-0, 3-0 Jayhawk West) will open the Jayhawk West doubleheader with a 5:30 p.m. meeting against the Cougars.

The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon Flagship Station KHUT-FM (102.9) and on sister station KWBW-AM (1450) at 5:20 p.m. The Blue Dragon Sports Network will provide a videostream and audio-only stream beginning at 5:20 p.m.

The Lady Dragons have had a week off since winning 58-45 at Butler last Wednesday to complete a stretch of three games in five days.

HCC puts a 72-game home-court winning streak, a 58-game regular-season winning streak and 31-game Jayhawk-West winning streak on the line. The last team defeat the Lady Dragons at the Sports Arena was Barton on Jan. 21, 2009.

HCC head coach John Ontjes goes after his 100th victory in the Arena on Wednesday.

The Cougars (11-6, 1-3) come into Wednesday's contest after dropping its last two games to Garden City and Butler.

HCC has won six straight against Barton, the longest HCC win streak in series history.

HCC's Sports Arena winning streak up to 72 games

A 61-46 victory over Garden City on Monday extended the Lady Dragons' team-record home-court winning streak to 72 games.

The current streak started with an 80-26 victory over Pratt on Jan. 28, 2009. The last team to defeat the Lady Dragons at the Sports Arena was Barton.

HCC has won 86 of its last 88 games at home and are 99-3 at the Sports Arena under head coach John Ontjes.

HCC has had 13 streaks of at least 10 or more consecutive home victories.

Current winning streak now program's 3rd longest

Hutchinson's current 17-game winning streak is now the third-longest winning streak in team history.

The 2012-13 Lady Dragons surpassed the 1977-78, 1989-90 and 2004-05 teams for the third-longest start in team history.

The longest winning streak in team history is 36, set by last season's NJCAA national runner-up team who started the season 36-0 before losing in the national championship game.

The second-longest streak in team history was also snapped in the NJCAA Tournament. The 1976-77 Lady Dragons reeled off 26-consecutive wins before falling in the national semifinals.

2012-13 Lady Dragons off to 3rd best start ever

Now 17-0 to start the season, the 2012-13 Lady Dragons have tied the third-best start in program history.

Last year's NJCAA national runner-up team holds the record by winning its first 36 games before dropping the national championship game.

The 1976-77 Lady Dragons, which finished fourth in the NJCAA Tournament, started that season with 24-straight wins before losing the final two games of the national tournament.

HCC's women have had 11 starts to seasons of at least 10-0.

HCC working on other impressive streaks

+ Regular-season streak - The Lady Dragons won 58 consecutive regular-season games entering play vs. Butler.

The last regular-season loss came on Jan. 15, 2011 at El Dorado, a 55-51 loss at Butler.

The current regular-season winning streak is the longest since HCC reeled off 25 straight regular-season wins from 1977-79.

+ Jayhawk West regular-season streak - Hutchinson has won 31-consecutive games in the Jayhawk West regular season. That streak dates back to Jan. 15, 2011 when Butler defeated HCC 55-51.

+ Road regular-season streak - The Lady Dragons have reeled off 17-consecutive victories on opposing courts. This streak does not count neutral-court games. This streak dates back to a 55-51 setback on Jan. 15, 2011 at Butler. HCC's record road-game winning streak is 23 games, set from 1976-78.

+ Non-Conference regular-season streak - With its 81-52 victory over Neosho County on Jan. 2, the Lady Dragons have reeled off 35-straight non-conference victories dating back to a 69-63 loss to South Plains on Nov. 20, 2010.

+ Opponents shooting less than 50 percent - Opponents have not shot 50 percent or more from the field in 81 consecutive games.

The last time an opponent shot 50 percent or better came in the sixth game of the 2010-11 season when South Plains shot right at 50 percent (23 of 46) from the field. That's the only time in the John Ontjes era that an opponent has shot 50 percent.

Before that, the Lady Dragons went 117 straight games without allowing a team to shoot 50 percent or better.

Lady Dragons in the NJCAA National Poll

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team made history on Wednesday, climbing to No. 1 in the NJCAA Women's Division I basketball poll for the first time in the program's 39-year history.

The Lady Dragons (16-0) made the move to the top rung on the NJCAA ladder after former No. 1 North Idaho lost to Salt Lake earlier this month.

The Lady Dragons become the first Jayhawk Conference Division I team to be ranked No. 1 since Seward County opened the 2007-08 poll as the nation's top team. HCC is the first Jayhawk Conference team to be ranked No. 1 during a regular-season poll since Cloud County held the top spot for three weeks in the 2006-07 season.

The No. 1 ranking ties the highest mark ever achieved by the Lady Dragons, surpassing the No. 2 ranking reached this season and matched by an eight-week run at No. 2 during last seasons' 36-1 national runner-up season.

HCC has been a part of the NJCAA poll for 41-straight and 51 of the last 53 polls.

About the 2012-13 Lady Dragons

+ The Lady Dragons rank No. 1 currently in the Jayhawk West in scoring offense, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage. HCC is currently averages 77.9 points per game, while shooting 45.9 percent overall and 38.8 percent from 3-point range.

+ Hutchinson leads the Jayhawk West and is fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 46.2 points per game. The Lady Dragons are in field-goal defense at 29.9 percent. Opponents are shooting 22.1 from 3-point range, which ranks second in the league.

+ After scoring 102 points in its conference opener, HCC has averaged just 59.5 points per game, shooting just 37.3 percent and averaging 19 turnovers per game. Defensively in conference play, HCC is allowing just 46.3 points and 30.7 percent field-goal shooting and forcing 22.7 turnovers per game.

+ Sophomore Chrisstasia Walter and freshman Jamie Patrick are tied for the team scoring lead at 13.5 points per game, which is fifth in scoring in the Jayhawk West.

+ Walter is leading the Jayhawk West in steals and assists. Walter averages 5.8 rebounds and league highs of 6.1 assists and 3.9 steals per game. Walter is 36 assists away from joining the HCC single-season Top 10 assists list.

+ Patrick is the reigning Jayhawk Conference Player of the Week. She leads the West in field-goal percentage at 58.9 percent and 3-point field-goal percentage at 51.5 percent. She has a team-high 34 3-point goals. Patrick is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game. Over her last 11 games, Patrick is averaging 14.5 points per game, shooting 59.0 percent from the field.

+ Sophomore Jasmine Patterson averages 11.6 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds. She also has a team-high 20 blocks, which is tied for fourth in the Jayhawk West. Patterson is tied for ninth in the Jayhawk West in scoring and tied for sixth in rebounding.

+ Sophomore Aja Sorrells is fourth on the team at 9.4 points per game, shooting 47.6 percent. She is averaging 5.5 rebounds. Sorrells is second in the KJCCC West in free-throw percentage at 80.4 percent. She is sixth in steals at 2.5 per game.

+ The Lady Dragons average a league-best 21.5 assists per game. Walter has a team-high 103 and freshman Jen'Von'Ta Hill has 68. Hill is fourth in the league with 4.0 assists per game. Both Walter and Hill have 10-assist games this season.

+ The Lady Dragons are out-rebounding opponents with a plus-12.2 rebounding margin. HCC is pulling down 45.1 rebounds, while giving up 32.9 boards. HCC is averaging 16.0 offensive rebounds per game. The Lady Dragons have broken the 60-rebound mark twice this season. Four different Lady Dragons - Patterson, Sorrells, Walter and Patrick - all average more than five rebounds per game.

+ HCC turns the ball over 16.3 times per game, while forcing 24.5 turnovers. Fifteen of 17 opponents have had 20 or more turnovers this season.

+ The Lady Dragons are scoring 24.5 points per game off the bench. Freshman Bri Starks is averaging 6.8 points and 5.1 rebounds.

+ Starks ranks fifth in the Jayhawk West in field-goal percentage at 52.4 percent.

+ Hutchinson is 3-0 vs. nationally ranked opponents, defeating No. 25 NEO, No. 4 Iowa Western and No. 11 Garden City.

+ The Lady Dragons have had 20 or more assists in 11 of 17 games this season. HCC has seven players with 20 or more assists so far this season and four with more than 30 assists.

Scouting Barton

+ The Cougars have a new head coach for the third-straight season in Carter Kruger.

+ Barton was 10-4 in the non-conference season, posting a key early-season win over Coffeyville.

+ The Cougars set two team records for fewest points allowed (3) and fewest field goals allowed (1) in an 89-3 victory over Nebraska Tech in November.

+ Barton ranks sixth in the Jayhawk West in scoring at 65.1 points per game. The team's 41.2 percent from the floor is fourth and 33.5 percent shooting from 3-point range is third in the Jayhawk West. The Cougars are last in the league in free-throw shooting at 58.2 percent.

+ The Cougars rank fourth in the Jayhawk Conference in defensive scoring average at 55.5 points per game. Barton is seventh in defensive field-goal percentage at 35.7 percent and fifth in 3-point defense at 26.5 percent. The Cougars have allowed a league-low 59 treys.

+ Freshman Ashton Bruner is the only Barton player averaging in double figures at 10.8 points per game. Bruner is eighth in field-goal percentage at 50.9 percent, but is 45.5 percent from the foul line. Bruner also averages a team-high 7.9 rebounds and has a team-high 34 steals, which is ninth in the league.

+ Sophomore Blair Bloomfield averages 9.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. She has 16 treys.

+ Erin Copeland averages 9.0 points and is one of four Barton sharp-shooters from long range. She is second in the league in 3-point percentage, hitting 18 of 45 percent from point range. Copeland has a team-high 56 assists, which is seventh in the league.

+ Payton Scheer is averaging 8.6 points with a team-high 22 3-pointers. She shoots 45.8 percent from long range.

+ The Cougars average 42.2 rebounds per game, and allows 35.3 boards.

+ Barton turns the ball over 17.9 times per game and force 18.5 turnovers.

+ Barton averages 9.9 steals per game.

Series History vs. Barton

This will be the 77th meeting between Hutchinson and Barton in a continuous series that began in 1978.

Barton is one of only two teams in the Jayhawk West to have a winning record against Hutchinson in women's basketball. HCC trails 52-24 overall in the series, despite winning the last six meetings.

The Lady Dragons are 13-23 in Hutchinson and 10-27 in Great Bend. HCC is 1-4 vs. Barton in Region VI meetings, the last one of those coming in 1987.

2013 Sophomores cementing legacy in HCC history

The 2013 Lady Dragons sophomores are currently ranks fifth in team history in wins by a sophomore class with 53.

As freshmen, this group of sophomores - Jasmine Patterson, Aja Sorrells, Jade Herl, Kyrsten Crawford and Chrisstasia Walter (redshirt) - won 36 games and went all the way to the NJCAA championship game.

The 2013 sophomores became only the fifth sophomore class in team history to win 50 games. That game in an 81-52 victory over Neosho County on Jan. 2.

The 2009 sophomores are fourth on the list with 55 victories. The 2012 sophomores lead all HCC sophomore classes with 66 victories.

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