Conq women fall hard to Hutchinson

   "When it rains, it pours," Dodge City Community College women's basketball coach Steve High said after his team's 70-point loss at the hands of the Hutchinson CC Blue Dragons.
    Cliches like the one High offered become overused due to the obvious truths they tell time and time again. And the way that conference play has started for the Conqs, the team appears to be sitting underneath a storm cloud.
    Wednesday's 102-32 loss to Hutch was the second game that Dodge City fought through without its leading scorer, April Weaver. The former Dodge guard is no longer enrolled at DCCC.
    Further information was unavailable because students' academic records are kept confidential by the college, but the Conqs (4-12, 0-2 Jayhawk Conference) will have to make do with an even shorter bench for the rest of the season. Seven players suited up for Wednesday's game.
    To further complicate things, Conq point guard Marcella Sedoc left the game with just over 13 minutes remaining in the first half after she suffered an injury to her right hand and was taken to the hospital. She came back to the Civic Center after the game with a cast on the hand.
    The Conq were already down 17-6 when Sedoc was injured, and the wheels came off for the team with only six available players the rest of the way. A Robin Parker turnaround jumper with just over five minutes remaining in the first half ended a 22-0 Hutch run and made the score 41-12.
    Parker finished the game with 20 of the Conqs' 32 points and seven boards.
    "About the only positive thing to come out of this game was that none of our players quit," High said. "There's not much positive to a 70-point loss, but none of our players quit hustling."
    Six Blue Dragons posted double-figure scoring in the rout.
    Brittany Hines came off the bench to lead the way for the Dragons (14-2, 1-1 Jayhawk) with 23 points on a pristine 10-of-10 shooting night. Naudia Campbell added 15 more, and Heather Robben chipped in with 13.
    "Hopefully, a game like this gives some of our role players confidence in the minutes they get when they can have some success in a conference setting," said Hutch coach John Ontjes.
    The Hutch defense forced the Conqs into 29 turnovers and turned the game into a glorified layup drill in the second half.
    "At some point, there's got to be some intrinsic motivation," High said of the prospects for his team moving forward. "You've got to decide that wasn't very fun and work to make yourself better."
    The short-handed Conqs will travel to Great Bend on Saturday to face the 10-5 Barton County CC Cougars (0-1 Jayhawk). Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.