Lady Saints struggle from outside, fall at unbeaten Hutchinson, 52-40

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The Seward County Community College women's basketball team had hopes of handing Hutchinson Community College its first loss in two years, but a miserable shooting night from three-point range dashed those dreams as the Lady Saints fell to the Blue Dragons, 52-40, Wednesday at the Sports Arena.

SCCC, which has dropped three of its last four games, fell to 6-5 in the Jayhawk Conference and 11-6 overall. Seward plays at 2 p.m. Saturday at Garden City.

The Lady Saints jumped out to a modest 4-0 lead to start the game while the Blue Dragons could not get going until the 4:11 mark when they scored their first basket and went on a 7-0 run. Hutchinson held a 7-6 margin after the first quarter.

Seward again scored the first four points, holding a 10-7 lead in the second quarter, but Hutchinson came back and went on to a 21-16 advantage at halftime.

The Lady Saints stayed close in the third quarter and cut the lead to 28-25 with 4:28 remaining. That was the lone three-pointer for Seward. The Blue Dragons closed the quarter on an 11-4 run and opened a 38-29 heading into the fourth.

Hutchison outscored Seward, 9-2 and held a 47-31 bulge midway through the final stanza. Ari Gordon tried to bring the Lady Saints back, scoring seven of their last nine points, but it was too little too late.

Seward kept misfiring from the outside, making only one of 15 from three-point range, but was 16-of-40 from two and 17-of-55 overall from the field. The Lady Saints only got to the free-throw line six times, going 5-of-6.

Gordon had 15 points, Kyle Hunt chipped in with nine points and Avery Marchino scored eight for Seward, which was outrebounded, 37-29.

Hailey Jackson had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Madi Denison and Jada Pleasant each scored 10 points for Hutchison, which extended its overall winning streak to 54 games. The Blue Dragons are atop the Jayhawk Conference at 11-0 and 17-0 overall this season.