Box Score The Neosho County women's basketball team continued their grueling non-conference schedule with a pair of games at the Hutchinson Winter Classic. The Panthers dropped the opener Friday night to Garden City Community College before falling to No. 5 ranked Hutchinson Community College Saturday night.

Neosho hung with the much larger Broncbusters for most of the first half. The Panthers were able to pull within three with under 10 minutes to play on a pair of free throws by Daryane Yarbarough. Garden began to slowly pull away however, and a 15-5 run to close the half gave them a 13 point lead at the break.

The Panthers came out in the second half and began to chip away at the Garden lead. Dena English hit a three to pull Neosho back within three only to see Garden answer back. English's jumper with 10:19 to go once again cut the lead to three.

Garden would then put the Panthers away for good as they would outscore Neosho 27-13 over the final 10 minutes for a 73-56 win.

Three Panthers finished in double figures led by Ashley Grant who finished with 15. Danel Stithem and Dena English each added 13 in the losing effort.

Neosho's schedule wouldn't get easier as they would face NJCAA No. 5 Hutchinson Community College Saturday night.

The Panthers struggled to score the ball during the first half against the Blue Dragons. Dena English knocked down a three to make the score 17-12 but the Panthers would go cold after that. Hutch would make a 25-0 run over the next 8 minutes. Mackenzie Dunbar hit a pair of free throws to stop the run. Carolina Alfonso's layup with 2:00 minutes left in the half ended a stretch of almost 10 minutes without a field goal as Hutch pulled away for a 55-18 halftime lead.

The second half would see Hutchinson continue to pull away as they shot over 50 percent from the floor while the Panthers again struggled shooting. The Blue Dragons forced the Panthers to go nearly eight minutes to start the second half before they could connect on their first field goal.

Mackenzie Dunbar was the lone Panther to reach double figures in the loss. Dunbar scored a career high 15 points to go with four steals and two assists. Hutchinson was able to hold the Panthers leading scorer, Ashley Grant, to only eight points. It was the first time Grant had failed to reach double figures since November 9 against Kansas City Kansas Community College.

The Panthers fall to 6-9 with the loss while Hutchinson improved to 11-0. Neosho will be back in action Monday when they travel to Fort Scott to take on the Greyhounds.