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KBEC Sports report
HUTCHINSON, KS — Led by freshman Mya Williams, the Hutchinson Community College women’s basketball team had several members earn spots and win individual awards on the 2022 NJCAA Women’s Division I All-Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and All-Region VI teams released on Monday.
Williams was named the KJCCC’s co-Player of the Year. The 2021 Waxahachie graduate was also named the league’s Freshman of the Year and a first-team all-league/all-region selection.
Williams, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard, continues a dominant run by Blue Dragon lady hoopers, matching the conference MVP honors earned by Abby Ogle in 2020. Williams is the first Blue Dragon to earn league Freshman of the Year honors since Jada Mickens in 2018.
To extend the depth of that historic run, Williams is Hutchinson’s seventh conference Player of the Year and sixth Freshman of the Year.
Williams was the leading scorer in the Jayhawk Conference this season, averaging 18.8 points per game. Her 622 points this season are a Blue Dragon freshman record and ranks third on the Blue Dragon single-season scoring list.
Williams reached double figures in 31 of 33 games — including 12 games of 20 or more points.
The freshman had a career-high 37 points against Colby on February 12. That mark tied for the fifth-most in team single-game history. Williams was 12 of 16 shooting overall, going 7 of 8 from 3-point range against the Trojans.
Williams had seven games of four or more 3-pointers, shooting a stellar 38.7 percent from 3-point range.
Williams netted seven 3-pointers in games against Howard and Colby. Her 81 3-pointers this season are currently ninth-most in single-season history and are fourth-most on the Blue Dragon freshman list.
Williams is shooting 42.4 percent from the floor and 85.2 percent from the free-throw line for the season. Her 139 made free throws led the KJCCC and rank second on the Blue Dragon freshman list and sixth on the single-season list.
Williams was also named the Jayhawk Conference Player of the Week three times this season. She earned NJCAA National Player of the Week honors after her 37-point performance against Colby.
Williams shares the Player of the Year honor with Maisa Marcel of Independence.
UP NEXT
Williams and the Blue Dragons (28-5) will play Region IX champion Casper College (28-4) at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 17 at the Rip Griffin Center. The Hutchinson/Casper winner will then play No. 3 seed Georgia Highlands at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 18.
Hutchinson won its first NJCAA Women’s Division I Region VI Championship since 2017 and eighth overall on Saturday night with an 82-62 victory over the Barton Cougars.
The Blue Dragons earned their 11th NJCAA Tournament appearance, the first since advancing to the national semifinals in 2019.
Hutchinson will play Casper for only the third time and the first in NJCAA Tournament play. Casper won a neutral-court game 70-43 in 1996. The Blue Dragons defeated Casper 72-58 in a neutral-court game in 2004.
This will be the second-straight national tournament appearance that the Blue Dragon will open the tournament with a Region IX team. The Blue Dragons opened the 2019 national tournament with Western Nebraska.
