Dodge City women's basketball fell short of a return to the Region 6 Championship game with a tough 69-57 loss to #13 Hutchinson in the Region 6 Semifinals in Great Bend. 

The loss drops the Conquistadors to 26-5 on the season as they await a possible at-large bid to the NJCAA Division I Tournament, which will be announced on Monday, March 16th, at 4:00 pm.

The Conqs started slow were never able to recover, shooting below 40% as a team for only the ninth time this season. Falling behind 5-0 to open the game soon turned into a double-digit deficit at 14-4 with just under three and a half minutes left in the first quarter. The Conqs found themselves down 18-6 after the first 10 minutes of action. In the second stanza, the lead grew to as high as 12 with the Conqs getting no closer than seven and trailed 32-23 at intermission. 

The third quarter saw the Conqs make a push behind the play of Savi Mi, who scored 13-straight points for the Conqs during the third quarter, getting the Conqs as close as three at 39-36 with four and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. Conqs trailed by six, 51-45, entering the fourth quarter, and would get within four in the fourth, but Hutchinson closed out the game, stretching the lead back to double figures, ultimately sending the Conqs to a 69-57 loss. 

In the loss, the Conqs shot just 35.7% and only 24.1% from three-point range. Defensively, the Conqs held Hutchinson to just 39.7% shooting but were outrebounded by 11 in the contest. 
Mi had a career performance with 29 points on 10-16 shooting, including 6-9 from behind the arc, and added six rebounds. Saje Evans chipped in 12 points, and Manuela Piljevic tallied 11 points and four rebounds. 

The Conqs, who are ranked #9 in the final NJCAA DI rankings, now await their fate to see if they earn an at-large bid to the NJCAA DI Tournament. Conqs are looking to make the national tournament for the fourth straight year and return after a Final Four appearance last year.