Lady Dragons advance

LADY DRAGONS ADVANCE TO REGION VI SEMIS WITH VICTORY OVER INDY

WICHITA - Jamie Patrick became the third Hutchinson Community College women's basketball player to score 1,000 career points and Kalani Purcell posted an exceptional stat line as the No. 3 Lady Dragons defeated Independence 70-53 in the quarterfinals of the 2014 Region VI Tournament on Wednesday at Charles Koch Arena.

Hutchinson (30-0) extended its current winning streak to 31 straight games dating back to last season and won 30 games in a season for the fifth time in program history, all under head coach John Ontjes.

The Lady Dragons will play Garden City in the Region VI semifinals at 3 p.m. on Friday. Butler and Barton play in the first semifinal.

Hitting a 3-pointer with her first shot attempt of the second half, Patrick reached 1,000 points for her career, surpassing Janay Vulgamore (1988-90) for third place on the HCC career scoring list. With 17 points on Wednesday, Patrick also moved into fifth place on the HCC single-season scoring list with 535 points.

Patrick hit 7 of 11 field goals, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Patrick's first 3-pointer of the game was the first from long distance in five games for the sophomore guard. Patrick also had four rebounds and three assists.

Purcell, the recently named Jayhawk West Freshman of the Year, posted her 13th double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Purcell also had five assists, four steals and a career-high six blocked shots. Purcell jumped into second place on the Lady Dragon single-season rebounding list with 305 rebounds.

The Lady Dragons shot 50 percent for the second-straight regional game and for the 13th time this season, connecting of 27 of 54 field goal attempts. HCC was 4 of 11 from 3-point range and 12 of 21 from the free-throw line. HCC out-rebounded Independence 37-28. The Lady Dragons had 20 assists, 15 steals and just 12 turnovers.

Freshman Shakira Harding had 11 points, four rebounds and a season-high three steals for HCC. Sophomore Jen'Von'Ta Hill had 10 points, five steals and three assists. Hill moved into second place on the career steals list with 159.

Courtney Smith had 14 points to lead the Pirates (17-11). Deja Robinson had 10 points. Indy's leading scorer, Sabrina Berry was held to five points on 2 of 7 shooting.

The Pirates shot 38.2 percent overall (21 of 55), hitting 8 of 19 from 3-point range and just 3 of 6 from the foul line. The Pirates turned the ball over 19 times.

Trailing 10-9 with 15:09 to play in the first half, Hutchinson scored six unanswered points which began a 12-2 run over an 8 minute, 46 second span. Kiarra Jones' inside bucket gave HCC a 21-12 lead with 6:00 to play in the opening half. The run grew to 23-6 to help HCC build a 30-16 lead after a Chelsea Dewey drive to the hoop with 2:08 remaining.

HCC shot 48.1 percent while holding Independence to 33.3 percent shooting with 11 turnovers in the first half. The Lady Dragons led 34-21 at halftime.

Independence scored the first five points of the second half to cut the HCC advantage to eight points, but Patrick's 3-pointer that put her over the 1,000-point mark regained a double-digit lead at 37-26 with 17:57 to play in the second half.

Leading 47-39, Hutchinson went on a 9-0 run to build its largest lead of the game at 56-38 after a Sydney Benoit jumper inside hoop with 9:14 to play.

Indy's 3-point shooting kept the game from getting out of control, but the deficit never got back into single digits. After the Pirates whittled the lead down to 21 points with 4:18 to play, Hill knocked down a 3-pointer at the 3:52 mark and Purcell scored with 3:08 to go to push the Hutch lead to 66-49.

GAME NOTES - The Lady Dragons are now 11-17 in Region VI quarterfinal matchups. HCC is 48-32 all-time in Region VI play, including 7-5 vs. Independence against Independence. … The Lady Dragons are now 26-11 all-time vs. Independence, winning eight in a row vs. the Pirates. … The 30 victories ties for the fourth-most wins all-time with the 2010-11 Lady Dragons. … Jamie Patrick jumps from No. 8 to No. 5 in career field goals with 367 makes. She tied Wendy Fehrenbach (2003-05) for sixth in career 3-pointers with 118 makes. She is up to seventh on the single-season field-goal list with 195. … Kalani Purcell is now No. 6 on the single-season blocked shots list with 43. … The 2014 sophomores won their 67th victory at HCC. … This was Kalani Purcell's 17th game of double-figure rebounds.

Sat. Mar. 1 - Women's Games at Higher Seeds

2:00 - #6 Butler (29-1) def (2-28) Colby 81-45 -

6:00 - Cloud County (17-12) def (4-25) NW Kansas Tech 90-67 -

1:00 - Barton (18-12) def (22-8) Cowley 82-76 -

6:00 - #20 Seward County (25-5) def (11-19) Neosho County 90-36 -

5:00 - Dodge City (16-14) def (18-10) Coffeyville 73-67 -

1:00 - Garden City (16-13) def (16-14) Labette 72-69 -

2:00 - Independence (16-10) def (20-10) Pratt 78-69 -

2:00 - #3 Hutchinson (28-0) def (7-22) Allen 105-33 -

Wed. Mar. 5 - Region VI Women's D-I Quarterfinals

at Koch Arena - WSU - Wichita, KS

1:00 - #6 Butler (30-1) def (18-12) Cloud County 76-67 -

3:00 - Barton (19-12) def (26-2) #20 Seward County 61-56 -

5:00 - Garden City (17-13) def (17-14) Dodge City 64-50 -

7:00 - #3 Hutchinson (29-0) def (17-10) Independence 70-53 -

Fri. Mar. 7 - Region VI Women's D-I Semifinals

at Koch Arena - WSU - Wichita, KS

1:00 - #6 Butler (31-1) vs (20-12) Barton

3:00 - Garden City (18-13) vs (30-0) #3 Hutchinson

Sat. Mar. 8 - Region VI Women's D-I Championship

at Koch Arena - WSU - Wichita, KS

5:00 -

Mar. 17-22

NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championships - Salina, KS