Walter ties career high in Hutch win

WALTER TIES CAREER HIGH TO POWER NO. 1 HUTCH WOMEN PAST PRATT

Sophomore guard Chrisstasia Walter tied her career scoring high with 26 points, going 5 of 5 from 3-point range, to lead the NJCAA No. 1-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team to a 78-46 Jayhawk West victory over the Pratt Beavers on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

The Lady Dragons (20-0, 6-0 Jayhawk West) extended their Sports Arena winning streak to 74-straight games by defeating Pratt for the ninth-consecutive time. Hutchinson also extended its regular-season winning streak to 61 games and its Jayhawk West winning streak to 34 games.

Hutchinson raced out to an 11-0 lead in the first 3 minutes, 34 seconds of the game against an undermanned Pratt team that was missing three starters. The lead grew to 22 points (24-2) just 7 minutes, 47 seconds in as HCC shot 60.7 percent from the field with five 3-pointers in the first half. Pratt managed just 23.1 shooting, missing all five of its 3-point attempts.

Walter's 26 points was a Hutchinson season high and it tied her career high that she set against Oral Roberts University when she played at Arkansas in the 2010-11 season. Walter hit a career-high 10 field goals on 14 attempts and tied a career high with five 3-point goals. The sophomore point guard added six assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Walter is now tied for sixth on HCC's single-season steals list with Jeanne Martin (1977) with 78 steals.

Sophomore Aja Sorrells was 6 of 8 shooting from the field and 5 of 6 from the foul line to finish with 17 points. Sophomore Kyrsten Crawford came off the bench to score 10 points.

Sophomore Jasmine Patterson finished with eight points, while freshmen Bri Starks and Jamie Patrick had six points each.

The Lady Dragons shot 53.6 percent from the field (30 of 56), going 8 of 14 from 3-point range and 10 of 14 from the free-throw line. HCC out-rebounded Pratt 36-25 and had 15 turnovers. The Lady Dragons added 22 assists and 12 steals.

Pratt was led by Hayli Jo Smith's 20 points. She was 5 of 13 overall and 8 of 8 from the foul line. Kelsey Strobel and Elle Stein had seven points each. Stein had eight rebounds for the Beavers.

The Beavers (12-8, 1-5) were held to 31.9 percent (15 of 47) for the game, going just 2 of 12 from long range and 14 of 20 from the foul line. Pratt committed 21 turnovers.

Four different players scored and six different players dished out assists during Hutchinson's initial 24-2 run. A Sorrells bucket with 17:25 to play made it 11-0. After two Smith free throws got Pratt on the board at the 16:16 mark, HCC reeled off 13 unanswered points. Crawford's 3-pointer with 12:13 to play gave HCC a 24-2 lead.

Pratt had an early answer with an 8-1 run and pulled within 25-12 with 9:12 to play after a Keosha Parks field goal.

HCC was able to blow the lead up to 20 points for the first time late in the first half with a 10-0 run over a stretch of 4:01. Crawford sank a pair of free throws at the 2:15 mark to give HCC a 40-16 lead. The Lady Dragons took a 45-21 halftime lead when Walter put back her own miss at the first-half buzzer.

Hutchinson's shooting in the second half cooled off, but Walter scored 15 points to lead the Lady Dragons in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Neither team had a significant run in the second half until the final 4 minutes when the Lady Dragons close out the game on a 10-1 run. The Beavers didn't have a field goal for the final 3:41 of the game.

Hutchinson hits the road on Saturday to take on Cloud County at 6 p.m. in Concordia.

GAME NOTES - With Wednesday's victory, HCC completed the program's third 20-game winning streak in program history. … HCC's 20-0 start to the season is the third longest in team history. … The 2013 sophomores claimed their 56th victory, which moves them alone into fourth place for sophomores wins. … HCC is now 66-9 all-time vs. Pratt. … HCC held its 84th-straight opponent to less than 50 percent shooting. … Chrisstasia Walter is now 16th on HCC's single-season assist list with 120. … This was program all-time victory No. 799. … HCC's eight 3-point goals tied for second most this season and it's the third time HCC has had eight treys in a game. … Kyrsten Crawford had her third career game scoring in double figures, her first in 15 games.

Wed. Jan. 23

Independence def D2#5 Highland 58-51*

Allen def Kansas City KS 42-33*

Butler def Cloud County 62-53*

Cowley def Neosho County 68-43*

Fort Scott def D2RV Brown Mackie 74-65**

Barton def Colby 69-53*

D2#2 Johnson County def Hesston 85-38**

D1#1 Hutchinson def Pratt 76-46*

D1#12 Garden City def Seward County 65-56*

Coffeyville def Labette 70-34* (Corrected)

Northwest Kansas Tech at Central Wyoming 5:00MT