Women fall two in a row

By Bailey Terry

After an impressive 132-game win streak in the Sports Arena for the Blue Dragon women’s basketball, the streak has ended with a loss to Cloud County.

Hutch played Cloud County on Feb. 13 and lost 57-67 after Hutch committed 22 turnovers.

Cloud County was the first opponent to come into the Sports Arena and win a game against the women since 2009.

Their record is now 24-3 overall and 14-3 in the Jayhawk West Conference.

Over the last two weeks, the Dragons beat Dodge City and Colby, but had their second and third losses of the season against Seward County and Cloud County.

The top scorer for the Dragons was Inja Butina, Zagreb, Croatia, with 11 points.

Butina also added 5 assists.

Right behind Butina was Kirea Rogers, Wichita, with 10 points and five steals.

Cloud had 32 points off of the 22 Hutch turnovers compared to the Dragons 16 points off of 22 Cloud turnovers.

Over the course of the game, the Dragons were up by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, but weren’t able to hold the lead for long in the final half.

After a strong opening quarter, the Dragons were ahead 18-9.

Hutch took a double figure lead, but Cloud started to climb back and came within two points, 25-23.

The Dragons went into halftime with the lead 31-25.

With seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, Cloud climbed back within one, 33-32.

Hutch pushed the ball and went on a 12-1 run with under four minutes remaining in the third.

The score was 45-33.

As the third quarter ended, Cloud tied the game at 49 after a 16-point quarter.

The final quarter was when the Dragons fell behind after seven turnovers and Cloud shooting seven for 11.

With five minutes remaining the Dragons were down, but scored four unanswered points to tie the game at 55.

The Dragons hit one of their last seven shots and were outscored 12-2 by Cloud.

Over the last two quarters, the Dragons had a total of 14 turnovers and made three of 11 shots, which both had a factor in their loss.

The second loss for the Dragons was to Seward on Feb. 10.

The score was 63-68.

The leading scorer of the game was Rogers with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

The Dragons outrebounded their opponents 39-32, but that wasn’t enough for them to win.

Hutch is scheduled to play Barton in the Sports Arena on Feb. 20.

The game tips off at 5:30 p.m.

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