Lady Saints Fall in Clash of Titans
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Seward County Community College (17-1 (13-1)) | 13 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 47 |
|
Hutchinson Community College (17-1 (13-1)) | 12 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 74 |
The #4 Seward County Lady Saints dropped their first game of the 2016-2017 season Wednesday night in the Hutchinson Sports Arena, falling 74-47 to the #5 Hutchinson Blue Dragons, putting an abrupt end to Seward's 17-0 start to the year.
Seward got out to the start they were looking to in their second top 10 matchup of the season with the Dragons. The Lady Saints jumped out to a 6-2 lead four minutes in and traded buckets to an 8-4 lead at the midway point of the first quarter. Seward went cold, failing to score a point over the next three minutes, but their defense held Hutch to just one bucket during the stretch to make it an 8-6 game with 2:45 left in the quarter. Both sides picked things up as the first quarter came to a close with the Dragons shaving one point off the Seward lead to make it a 13-12 game in favor of the Lady Saints after one.
Hutchinson closed the first and opened the second quarter on a 10-1 run, erasing the Lady Saints lead to take an 18-14 lead of their own three minutes into the second. Seward's struggles continued offensively as the Lady Saints managed just one field goal in the first 7:31 of the second quarter as the Dragons stretched their lead to double digits at 27-17. It remained a 10 point Hutchinson lead with under two minutes to go in the half but the Lady Saints closed the quarter on a 5-0 run, trimming the Dragon advantage to just 32-27 as the teams went to the locker rooms at half.
The Lady Saints shot 50% in the half, but turned the ball over 12 times to allow the Dragons to grab the halftime lead. Mollie Mounsey led all scorers at the break with 12 points while no other Seward player had more than five in the first 20 minutes.
Five quick points from Mounsey early in the second half got Seward to within four at 36-32, but no other Lady Saint scored in the period until the 2:07 mark as Hutchinson ballooned their lead to its largest of the game at that point at 46-32. Eventually the Dragons would outscore Seward 22-9 in the third, pushing their lead to a commanding 54-36 as the teams went to the fourth.
Hutchinson hit a pair of threes to begin the fourth quarter and the route was on for the red hot Dragons. Seward had few answers for the well-rounded Blue Dragon attack as Hutchinson continued to pile on the points before eventually cresting their lead at 73-45 late in the fourth. Seward scored just once more and at the final horn it was all Blue Dragons in the Sports Arena 74-47.
Seward shot just 35% in the second half while Hutchinson shot 59% from the floor. The Lady Saints finished the game at 42% overall while the Dragons shot a season high 56%. Seward's 42% shooting in the game was their second worst mark of the year while their 24 turnovers were a season high. Mounsey led Seward with 17 points while Joanna Grymek was the only other Lady Saint to reach double figures with 13.
Seward falls for the first time in 18 contests this season, dropping to 17-1 overall and 13-1 in Jayhawk Conference play where they are now tied with the Blue Dragons who are also 17-1 overall and 13-1 in league action.
The Lady Saints will look to rebound Saturday at home in the Greenhouse when they host the Butler Grizzlies in a 6:00 tip. Free tickets are available courtesy of our buyout sponsor Billy's at their Liberal location or at Hutch's C Store in Liberal.