Fourth Quarter Comeback Leads Seward Over #7 Hutchinson
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Hutchinson Community College (24-2, 14-2) | 20 | 19 | 18 | 6 | 63 |
|
Seward County Community College (17-7, 9-5) | 17 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 68 |
After so many close calls over the past few seasons, the Seward County Lady Saints finally got the proverbial monkey off of their back Wednesday night in the Greenhouse as they used a huge fourth quarter comeback and an iron curtain defense late to knock off the 7th ranked Hutchinson Lady Blue Dragons 68-63 in front of an elated midweek crowd.
It was a back and forth game from the opening tip as Hutchinson scored the first four points of the game while Seward answered back moments later to tie the score at 12 midway through the first quarter. After the Dragons took a one point lead, Tiani White found herself all another underneath and scored to put Seward up 17-16, but Hutch got the final four points of the period to take a 20-17 lead after one.
Seward took the lead in the two step as the second quarter got underway, opening the period on a 10-4 run to take a three point lead at 27-24. A 5-0 Dragon burst gave Hutch the lead back by two and a late three pointer by Hutchinson would put them in front by five at the break 39-34.
Hutchinson was hot in the first half, shooting 55% as a team while Seward hit on 44% of their field goal attempts. The Dragons also led on the glass, outrebounding the Lady Saints 20-12 in the first half, but Seward turned the ball over just 5 times in the first 20 minutes to help their cause. Daniela Galindo led Seward with 8 first half points while Clitan de Sousa and Joanna Grymek each had 7.
The Blue Dragons continued their hot streak as the second half began and for a while it looked like the Lady Saints were in trouble. Hutch took their largest lead of the night at 55-44 with 3:33 to go in the third quarter, but Seward continued to battle, getting it back to within five after a free throw from Neidy Ocuane and five straight from White before the Dragons scored the quarters final bucket to make it 57-50 Hutch after three.
Seward came out in the fourth and scored the first four points, cutting the Hutch lead to just three. The Dragons scored to push their lead back to five with 7:22 to go and that is when the Lady Saints decided that tonight was going to be their night to slay their rivals from Hutchinson. Seward held high powered Hutchinson attack without a single point for the next 7:10, erasing the five point Dragon lead slowly before taking a five point lead of their own in the final minute. With time winding down, the Dragons got a hoop to make it a one possession game but Axelle Bernard was fouled and stepped up to the line and drained two free throws to seal it for the Lady Saints as the Greenhouse erupted with joy at the final horn in a 68-63 win for Seward County.
The Lady Saints held the Lady Dragons to just 6 fourth quarter points while scoring 18 to make their grand comeback. Seward finished the night shooting 45% from the floor while Hutchinson shot just a tick better at 46%. White had her best offensive night of Jayhawk Conference play, pouring in 18 in the win while Galindo gutted through some pain with 15. Bernard shook off a slow start to chalk up another one of her patented double-doubles with 10 points and 12 rebounds while Grymek pitched in 10 points and 5 rebounds inside as well.
The win snaps a 13 game Hutchinson win streak in the series. The Lady Saints pick up a huge victory to improve to 17-7 overall and 9-5 in conference action where they sit in 5th place at nights end, just one game out of the 3rd spot. The loss is a costly one in more than one way for the Lady Dragons as they fall to 24-2 overall and 14-2 in Jayhawk play where they are now tied with Garden City in the loss column atop the standings, but their steady #7 ranking may now be in jeopardy which is a concern because of NJCAA National Tournament at large bid possibilities.
Seward won't have long to relish in the big win as they get back to action on Saturday at home in the Greenhouse where they will take on a streaking Barton team on Homecoming night in Liberal. The Lady Saints and Lady Cougars will hook up at 6:00 with Homecoming festivities between games. Free tickets for the game are available courtesy of Pizza Hut at both of their Liberal locations.