Garden City drops fourth straight; falls to Hutch at home

Garden City, KS-Mya Williams proved why she is one of the best 3-point shooters in the conference on Saturday. 

The Texas native buried four 3s and scored a game-high 28 points, Monae Duffy posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Hutchinson outlasted Garden City, 71-53 at Conestoga Arena. It was the Broncbusters fourth straight loss, dropping them to 7-11 overall and 3-9 in conference play. 

Williams, who logged 33 minutes for veteran coach, John Ontjes, opened by canning her first three triples, all off brush screens that left the sophomore wide open from the top of the key. She finished 9-of-18 from the floor and was 6-of-8 from the line.

Garden City shot just 35 percent from the field, their fourth straight game under 40. They were 2-of-13 from beyond the arc and turned the ball over 15 times. 

The Broncbusters were down for most of the afternoon. Williams hit a pair of free throws, Duffy connected from deep, and Williams splashed home a pair of long 3-pointers from straight away, fueling a 13-0 run that put Hutchinson up, 14-2 with 5:55 remaining in the first. They led by 11 at the end of one.  

Meantime, Garden City couldn't buy a bucket in the second. They missed on eight of their 11 shot attempts and were outscored 15-8. Journey Armstead's driving layup off a bullet feed from Kali Howard gave Hutchinson its largest advantage of the game, 40-20 with 1:37 to go. It was an 18-point game at half.

The Broncbusters managed to trim the deficit to 12 at the end of three and made it a seven-point contest after Ariyah Brooks banked home a layup with 7:18 to go to make it 54-47. But Garden City managed just six points the rest of the way as Hutchinson closed the game on a 17-6 run. 

Armstead and Morgan Browning each had 10 points for Hutchinson, which won its fourth straight game. 

Dayshawna Carter paced the Broncbusters with 17 points in 37 minutes. Taya Davis had 15 and 13 assists, and Brooks chipped in a season-high 11 points off the bench.