Hovpensports.com - Lady Dragons open with ASA

March 20, 2013

Steve Carpenter, HCC-SID
Special to Hovpensports.com

Lady Dragons to play ASA in 2013 NJCAA Tournament Opener

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team will make its first appearance in the 2013 NJCAA Women's Division I National Tournament on Day 3, playing ASA College in a second-round match-up at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at the Bicentennial Center in Salina.

The game will be broadcast live on Blue Dragon flagship station KHUT-FM (102.9) beginning at 4:50 p.m. An audio-only stream and live stats are available on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 4:50 p.m. NJCAA TV will provide a videostream of the broadcast at njcaa.org.

The Lady Dragons are making their fourth overall national tournament appearance and will be at nationals for the second-straight year after winning the Region VI championship on March 9, defeating Cowley 70-46.

Hutchinson is the third overall seed in the 24-team single-elimination field. Defending national champion Trinity Valley is No. 1 and Central Arizona is No. 2. Hutchinson (33-1) is one of the top eight overall seeds that received opening-round byes.

ASA is the 25th-ranked team in the final NJCAA poll and is seeded 19th. The Avengers pulled off an upset of 14th-seed Western Nebraska, defeating the Region IX champions 74-68 on Tuesday, rallying from 12 points down with 7 minutes to play.

Last season, Hutchinson went all the way to the national championship game before falling 69-55 to Trinity Valley.

This will be the first meeting between Hutchinson and ASA. The Avengers have had an athletic program since only the 2009-10 season.

Lady Dragons make 4th NJCAA Tourney appearance

The Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team makes its fourth NJCAA Division I Women's National Tournament appearance and second in a row.

Last season, the Lady Dragons magical season went all the way to the NJCAA national championship game where it lost to Trinity Valley to finish the year 36-1. The Lady Dragons defeated Meridian, No. 10 Walters State and No. 3 Central Arizona on the way to the finals against No. 1 Trinity Valley.

The Lady Dragons' 2009 NJCAA Tournament appearance broke a 32-year national tournament drought for HCC women's basketball. Hutchinson dropped a heartbreaker the tournament opener to Shelton State, falling 60-59 in overtime. HCC trailed by as many as 12 points before rallying to tie the game. In the consolation round, HCC defeated 65-59 before being eliminated 67-61 by Vincennes University.

In Hutchinson's only other national tournament appearance, coach Larry Brin and his Lady Dragons went 3-2 in the tournament and finished fourth in the nation.

The 1977 Lady Dragons opened with a 51-47 victory over Monroe (N.Y.). HCC then defeated Faulkner State 85-61 and St. Clair College 70-58 to enter the semifinals with a perfect 26-0 record.

Panola College ended the Lady Dragons' title hopes with a 62-56 victory, and then Temple College defeated Hutchinson 93-57 in the third-place game.

Hutchinson has a 7-5 record in the NJCAA Tournament. The Lady Dragons are 2-1 in opening round games.

The Lady Dragons are 0-1 in overtime in the national tournament, dropping the 2009 opener to Shelton State 60-59.

Hutch is third seed for 2013 women's tournament

The Region VI champion Lady Dragons drew the No. 3 overall seed for the 2013 NJCAA Women's Division I National Tournament at the Bicentennial Center in Salina.

With the new tournament format - a 24-team single-elimination format over six days - Hutchinson (33-1) won play until Day 3 of the tournament. HCC is seeded third behind familiar national tournament foes Trinity Valley Community College (32-1) and Central Arizona College (29-1).

Both the NJCAA men's and women's tournament went through a dramatic format change this season. The Division I tournaments changed from a 16-team false double-elimination format to the new 24-team single-elimination field. The 16 district champions, four at-large teams and four zone teams make up the 24-team field. The four at-large teams were non-district champions selected from all over the country. The four zone teams are six randomly drawn regions - the zone qualifiers will rotate to a different set of six regions each year - which make up the final four teams of the tournament.

The top eight seeds all receive an opening-round bye. After defending national champion Trinity Valley, Central Arizona and Hutchinson, Gulf Coast State College (27-4) is seeded fourth, followed by Shelton State (32-0), Walters State (29-1), College of Southern Idaho (21-11) and Darton State College (30-3).

Hutchinson is the lone Region VI school to make the field of 24.

2012-13 Lady Dragons 2nd on wins list

With 33 victories, the 2012-13 Lady Dragons now stand alone in second place on the program's all-time wins list.

HCC's Region VI Championship Game victory on March 10 over Cowley College moved the 2013 Lady Dragons within 36 victories of the all-time record set by last year's conference and regional champion 2011-12 Lady Dragons, who advanced all the way to the NJCAA championship game.

HCC wins 4th Region VI women's championship

After winning its second-straight Region VI championship, the Lady Dragons have an eight-game winning streak in regional tournament play. HCC has won 11 of the last two regional games it has played in.

This season, the Lady Dragons rolled past Colby 90-31 in the opening round and then toppled rival Seward County 67-52 in the quarterfinals, both games were played at the Sports Arena.

HCC then had to hold on for a 60-59 victory over Butler in the Region VI semifinals on March 9 at Hartman Arena in Park City. One night later, the Lady Dragons had a huge second half en route to a 70-46 championship game victory over Jayhawk East champion Cowley.

Hutchinson has now win regional championships in 1977, 2009, 2012 and this season.

2013 Sophomores become leader in most victories

A 67-52 victory over Seward County in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Region VI Tournament put the 2013 HCC sophomores over the top.

This sophomore class is now the winningest class in HCC women's basketball history with 69 victories in their two seasons at Hutchinson.

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

The 2013 sophomores became only the fifth class in team history to win 50 games.

The 2012 sophomores were the previous CC sophomore class record holder with 66 victories. The 2010 sophomore class won 60 games.

HCC's Sports Arena winning streak up to 81 games

A 67-52 victory over Seward County on March 5 extended the Lady Dragons' team-record home-court winning streak to 81 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 95 of its last 97 games at home and are 108-3 at the Sports Arena under head coach John Ontjes.

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

HCC working on other impressive streaks

+ Opponents shooting less than 50 percent - Opponents have not shot 50 percent or more from the field in 98 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.

+ 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.

About the 2012-13 Lady Dragons

+ The Lady Dragons are averaging 76.4 points per game this season. HCC is shooting 45.7 percent overall and 38.0 percent from 3-point range. The Lady Dragons finished ranked first in the Jayhawk West in all three categories.

+ HCC is shooting 65.6 percent from the foul line. That mark improved to 68.0 percent in Jayhawk West games. Over the last 11 games, HCC is shooting 74.5 percent (161 of 216).

+ Hutchinson led the Jayhawk West and is fourth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 47.4 points per game. The Lady Dragons led the league in field-goal defense at 30.9 percent. Opponents are shooting 23.7 from 3-point range, which ranked second in the league.

+ In conference play, HCC averaged 75.3 points per game, shooting 46.3 percent from overall and 38.0 percent from 3-point range. Defensively, HCC allowed 48.6 points, 31.5 percent field-goal shooting and 23.4 percent from 3-point range in 16 league games.

+ The 2013 Lady Dragons now rank No. 1 in team steals (503), third in assists (721), second in total field goals (974), third in total points (2,596), fourth in team rebounds (1,468), tied for fifth in total free throws (468) and tied for eighth in total 3-point goals (180).

+ Sophomore point guard Chrisstasia Walter is averaging 12.9 points per game, which was seventh in the Jayhawk West. She finished second in the West in steals (3.76/game) and led the league in assists (5.73/game). She averages 5.5 rebounds per game.

+ Walter is Hutchinson's single-season steals leader with 128 steals and No. 1 in single-season assists with 195.

+ Sophomore Jasmine Patterson averages 12.9 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds. She also has a team-high 47 blocked shots and has 66 assists and 47 steals. Patterson finished seventh in the league in scoring, fourth in blocked shots and seventh in rebounding.

+ Freshman guard Jamie Patrick led the league in field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage. Eighth in the league in scoring at 12.1 points per game, Patrick is shooting 51.6 percent overall and 40.0 percent from 3-point range. She has a team-high 58 3-pointers. Patrick is averaging 5.0 rebounds per game.

+ Sophomore forward Aja Sorrells averages 9.8 points on 50.0 percent shooting. In the Jayhawk West, Sorrells shot 55.3 percent, averaging 11.0 points per game. Sorrells finished No. 1 in the league in free-throw shooting at 81.4 percent, was sixth in steals at 2.35 per game and third in field-goal percentage.

+ The Lady Dragons are scoring 23.5 points per game off the bench. Jen'Von'Ta Hill is averaging 6.4 points per game. Over her last nine games, Hill has had six games in double figures after having just one in the first 25 games, averaging 12.4 points per game. Freshman Briana Starks is averaging 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds.

+ The Lady Dragons average a league-best 21.2 assists per game. Walter has a team-high 195 and Hill has 131. Hill is fourth in the league with 3.85 assists per game. Both Walter and Hill have 10-assist games this season.

+ The Lady Dragons are out-rebounding opponents with a plus-10.8 rebounding margin. HCC is pulling down 43.2 rebounds, while giving up 32.6 boards. HCC is averaging 14.6 offensive rebounds per game. HCC has broken the 60-rebound mark twice this season.

+ HCC turns the ball over 16.1 times per game, while forcing 23.5 turnovers. Twenty-six of 34 opponents have had 20 or more turnovers this season. Seven have had 30 or more.

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

+ The Lady Dragons are 21-0 at the Sports Arena, 7-1 in road games and 6-0 in neutral-court games.

HCC POSTSEASON NOTABLES

+ HCC is averaging 71.8 points per game offensively and 47.0 points defensively.

+ The Lady Dragons shot 40.0 percent overall, but were 35.9 percent from 3-point range, going 28 of 78 from long range. HCC is shooting a solid 71.8 percent from the foul line.

+ Defensively. HCC is allowing opponents to shoot 32.5 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from long range. HCC is forcing 22 turnovers per game.

+ Sophomore point guard Chrisstasia Walter was named the Region VI Tournament MVP. She was joined by Jasmine Patterson, Jade Herl and Jamie Patrick on the All-Tournament team.

+ Patterson led all scorers for HCC in the regional tournament at 15.8 points per game, shooting 48.8 percent from the floor and 75 percent from the foul line.

+ Walter averaged 11.8 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds in the tournament. She had 21 assists and 14 steals.

+ Jade Herl blocked Butler's last-second shot attempt in the semifinals in HCC's 60-59 victory.

Scouting ASA

+ ASA is a first-time NJCAA Tournament participant. The program has existed since the 2009-10 season.

+ The Avengers, seeded 19th, pulled off the second major upset of the women's tournament after knocking off 14th-seed Western Nebraska 74-68 on Tuesday. ASA rallied from 12 points down (60-48) with 7:55 to play and outscored the Cougars 26-8 down the stretch. Shaquita Smith had 30 points, hitting five 3-point goals to lead the Avengers.

+ ASA averages 71.3 points per game offensively. The Avengers shot 37.4 percent overall and 28.3 percent from 3-point range. ASA averages 20.2 3-point attempts per game. ASA shoots 62.5 percent from the foul line.

+ Defensively, ASA allows 53.9 points per game, 31.1 percent overall shooting and 22.1 percent from 3-point range.

+ Rebounding is a huge plus on ASA's resume. The Avengers average 52.9 boards per game, including 23.6 offensive boards per contest. Shashana Bucknor averages 11.7 rebounds and Tiffany Jones averages 11.8 rebounds per game.

+ Bucknor is the team's leading scorer at 2.8 points per game, shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 74.4 percent from free-throw line.

+ Jones averages 11.8 points, 2.4 steals and 2.3 blocked shots while shooting 44.4 percent from the foul line.

+ Shaquita Smith has 48 3-pointers and shoots 30.2 percent from the floor. She averages 10.5 points and 4.7 assists per game.

+ Kelcey Castro comes off the bench to five ASA a team-high 50 3-pointers and 8.9 points per game.

Series History vs. ASA

This will be the first meeting ever between Hutchinson and ASA. This will be only the second time the Blue Dragons will play a team from New York. ASA is located in Brooklyn. The last time was the 1977 NJCAA Tournament when HCC defeated Monroe College 51-47.

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