Hutchinson remains unbeaten with an 81-62 road win over the Lady Tigers

Hosting the top-ranked Hutchinson Community College Lady Blue Dragons Wednesday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium, the Cowley College women's basketball team stayed close for a half before the Lady Blue Dragons imposed their will en route to an 81-62 road win.

Hutchinson improves its record to 24-0 overall and 18-0 in the Jayhawk Conference. Cowley falls to 12-13 overall and 6-13 in the conference.

On Wednesday, Cowley shot 61.5 percent in the opening quarter yet still trailed 19-18. Forcing Cowley into 14 first-half turnovers, the Lady Blue Dragons increased its lead to 36-27 at the end of the half.

Hutchinson's lead would grow to 61-43 after three-quarters of play, and the Blue Dragons would lead by as many as 22 points (73-51) in the road win.

Cowley out-shot Hutchinson 51.1 percent to 42 percent from the floor, but the Blue Dragons turned 27 Lady Tiger turnovers into 38 points.

"It came down to physical play and we got beat up and manhandled," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "They were just more physical than we were."

Freshman Jaiden Smith came off the bench to lead Cowley with 14 points, while Zuzanna Komor and Anna Przyszlak added 12 points each. Sophomore Ndack Mbengue added 11 points and 17 rebounds to give her 41 rebounds over the past two games.

Hutchinson freshman Kiki Smith went 6-of-7 from the floor and led five Lady Blue Dragon players in double figures with 17 points.

Cowley will attempt to snap a four-game road losing streak when they play at Colby Community College on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Lady Trojans are 6-17 overall and 2-16 in the Jayhawk Conference.

Box score:

Hutchinson (81): Journey Armstead 5-17 2-5 14, Hailey Jackson 5-8 2-5 12, Akaysha Muggeridge 6-14 0-0 16, Monae Duffy 2-6 0-3 5, Kiki Smith 6-7 2-2 17, Kahlen Norris 0-2 0-0 0, Peyton Mosley 1-5 0-0 2, Madi Denison 0-1 3-4 3, Jada Pleasant 0-0 0-0 0, Bree Horyna 4-9 2-2 12. Totals: 29-69 11-21 81.

Cowley (62): Zuzanna Komor 6-11 0-0 12, Ndack Mbengue 4-8 3-5 11, Hattie Pyle 3-7 1-2 7, Georgia Knight 1-3 0-0 3, Destiny Yates 1-1 0-0 3, Jaiden Smith 5-9 1-2 14. Totals: 24-47 9-13 62.

Three-pointers: Hutchinson 12-33 (Muggeridge 4-10, Smith 3-3, Horyna 2-5, Armstead 2-7, Duffy 1-2), Cowley 5-16 (Smith 3-7, Knight 1-3, Yates 1-1, Komor 0-2, Przyszlak 0-2, Pyle 0-1). Rebounds: Hutchinson 25 (Jackson 8), Cowley 36 (Mbengue 17). Assists: Hutchinson 18 (Armstead 8), Cowley 11 (Pyle 6). Turnovers: Hutchinson 8, Cowley 27. Total fouls: Hutchinson 14, Cowley 18. Fouled out: Duffy. Technicals: none.