Season High 39 points for Morrow but Seward falls short 73-72 to Hutch

Liberal, KS. - Seward County women's basketball team loses in a heart breaker to No. 16 Hutchinson Community College 73-72 in the Greenhouse. The Lady Saints fall to 7-4 overall and sits in third place in the Jayhawk West. The Sophomore Sierra Morrow led the Lady Saints with a season-high 39 points, which is tied for fourth all-time in a single-game performance at Seward County and added nine rebounds. 

The Blue Dragons Ishante Suttington got fouled with 0.7 seconds remaining with the score tied at 72 all and connected on one of two from the charity stripe to seal the win for Hutchinson. The Lady Saints trailed by as much as 12 points in the second half but battled back and had their largest lead of the game with a 61-53 advantage with under five minutes left in the contest.

In the first quarter of action, the Lady Saints were unable to get into an offensive flow to start the game as the Blue Dragons jumped out to a 16-8 advantage. Seward quickly responded and went on a 7-2 run to close out the first quarter. A pair of threes by Madina Camara and Hulda Joaquim helped the Lady Saints make it a one-possession game down 18-15 entering the second quarter. 

Both teams started the second quarter exchanging baskets and the Lady Saints took the lead 23-22 on a Joaquim three with less than seven minutes left in the quarter. Hutchinson responded with a 9-0 run to take a 31-23 advantage and extended their lead later in the quarter after a three-pointer to lead 39-28 under the one-minute mark.  Lady Saints went into the locker room down 39-30 and shot 29 percent from the field in the first half.

In the third quarter is where Hutchinson took their largest lead of the game with a 42-30 to start the second half. Sierra Morrow connects on a three-pointer to get the game back to a one-possession game at 46-43 and three minutes left in the quarter. The Blue Dragons closed out the quarter on a 5-2 run to take a 51-45 advantage going into the final quarter. 

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Saints Sierra Morrow put the team on her back and rattled off 13 straight points in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter and gave Seward a 61-53 lead. The Blue Dragons responded with a 14-2 run to take the lead right back at 67-63. Sanaa Smith connected on a timely three-pointer to get Seward down 72-70 with 45 seconds left. Down two Sierra Lynch stole the ball from the Blue Dragons and went coast to coast to tie the game at 72 all. With 10 seconds left Hutchinson worked the clock down and drove to the basket with one second remaining and drew a foul on the Lady Saints. One of two from the free-throw line turned out to be the difference in the game with a tough loss for the Lady Saints. 

Another notable scorer was Hulda Joaquim who had eight points and three rebounds off of the bench for Seward County.

The Lady Saints are back in the Greenhouse on Wednesday at 6 pm to take on Northwest Kansas Technical College.