LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – The No. 13-seeded Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team dethroned the defending NJCAA national champions on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2026 NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship.
The Blue Dragons used another tremendous defensive effort to stun No. 4-seed Northwest Florida State 64-53 at Townsley Law Arena in a rematch of the 2024 NJCAA national championship game.
Hutchinson (29-6) advance to play the Clarendon/Three Rivers winner at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Clarendon and Three Rivers play at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in a second-round matchup.
With Northwest Florida State (25-4) seeded No. 4 in the tournament and ranked No. 3 in the final NJCAA national rankings, this is Hutchinson’s first win over a national Top-5 team since defeating No. 2 Northwest Florida State 88-80 in overtime on April 1, 2024 in the NJCAA national championship game in Casper, Wyoming.
Trailing 21-10 after one quarter, the Blue Dragon defense dominated the second out, shutting out the Raiders in the second quarter. The Blue Dragons outscored Northwest Florida State 16-0 in the period and actually held the Raiders scoreless for 12 minutes, 2 seconds. Hutchinson outscored Northwest Florida State 22-0 over that span.
This is the third time since women’s college basketball moved to playing quarters before the 2015-16 season that Hutchinson has shut out an opponent in a quarter. The Blue Dragons shut out Central Missouri State JV on November 14, 2015 and shut out Ellsworth on December 19, 2018. In all three instances, the Blue Dragons shut out their opponent in the second quarter.
Freshman point guard Whitney Brown led a balanced Blue Dragon attack with 15 points, knocking down three 3-pointers and adding four assists.
Freshman KaMyra Barber finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Kaia Smith added 13 points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore Katie Duncan finished with 12 points and four assists and two 3-point goals. Sophomore Noelle Anthon contributed 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting and eight rebounds.
The Blue Dragons shot 42.9 percent (24 of 56) from the field and hit seven 3-pointers in 23 attempts. The Dragons were 9 of 14 from the free-throw line.
Hutchinson also controlled the glass, outrebounding Northwest Florida State 35-21, including 13 offensive rebounds that led to a 10-2 advantage in second-chance opportunities. The Dragons committed 19 turnovers.
Northwest Florida State was led by Jadah White with 15 points, while Kamryn Corporan added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Shooting 48.7 percent for the season, the Blue Dragons held the Raiders to 36.8 percent shooting (21 of 57). The Raiders were 5 of 19 from 3-point range and 6 of 9 from the free-throw line. Northwest Florida State had 12 turnovers.
The Blue Dragons jumped out to a 7-3 lead after a Smith field goal with 7:45 to play in the first quarter. The Dragons took a 10-8 lead after two Duncan free throws with 4:10 remaining in the quarter. The Dragons didn’t score for the remainder of the period and the Raiders closed on a 13-0 run and led the Blue Dragons 21-10 after 10 minutes.
The Blue Dragons answered in the second quarter led by the defense. Hutchinson held Northwest Florida State to 0 of 11 shooting and three turnovers.
Duncan hit a 3-pointer just 23 seconds into the second quarter to end Hutchinson’s offensive dry spell. Brown later hit a 3-pointer with 5:43 to play to pull within 21-18. The Dragons took the lead for good on a Barber 3-pointer with 2:27 remaining. Then Brown completed Hutchinson’s 16-0 second-quarter run with a 3-pointer at the 1:36 mark and Hutchinson led 26-21 at halftime.
The Blue Dragons extended their run to 22 unanswered points by Duncan, Anthon and Duncan again to lead 32-21 with 8:34 remaining in the third quarter. Northwest Florida State snapped its drought of 12:02 with a Corporan layup at the 8:04 mark of the third quarter. The Dragons built their largest lead of 13 points on a Smith 3-pointer with 7:01 to go for a 35-23 lead. Shakira Gresham hit a 3-pointer with 3:14 to play to cut the Dragon lead to 37-31. Anthon stopped that run with a field goal at the 1:05 mark and the Dragons led 39-31 heading to the fourth quarter.
The Blue Dragons outscored Northwest Florida State 11-6 in the first 5 minutes to open the final quarter and led 50-34 after a Smith basket with 5:09 to go. The Raiders scored seven unanswered to pull within 50-41, but a Smith field goal with 2:58 to play gave the Dragons a 52-41 lead. The Raiders made one more run, pulling within 52-46 after a Khoudia Diagne three-point play with 2:29 to go. Again Smith stopped the Raider run with a bucket with 1:53 to go for an eight-point lead. The Blue Dragons were 6 of 6 from the foul line – two from Barber and for from Brown – to seal the victory.
GAME NOTES – The Blue Dragons are now 4-0 all-time against Northwest Florida State, all four games in the NJCAA Tournament. … The Blue Dragons are now 27-13 all time in the NJCAA Tournament, including 5-3 in the second round. … Head coach John Ontjes is 24-11 in the NJCAA Tournament. … The Blue Dragons are 4-4 against nationally ranked teams. … Whitney Brown snapped a 13-game streak not scoring in double figures with her team-high 15 points. … The Dragons held Northwest Florida State to an opponent season-low 21 rebounds.
