The Hesston College women's basketball team returned to Kansas Saturday, March 22 after a brief stay at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II National Tournament at Hagerstown (Md.) Junior College.
      The Larks flew to Hagerstown March 18 and played March 19 and 20. In opening round action the team fell to Genesee Community College (Batavia, N.Y.) 88-80 in double overtime. Sophomore Lisa Schmidt of Inman, Kan. led the Larks with 31 points and 15 rebounds including 11 of 23 shooting from the field and 9 of 9 from the line. Her nine consecutive free throws tied a tournament record. Sophomore Janelle Yutzie (Salem, Ore.) and freshman Becky Nitzsche (West Point, Neb.) added 14 and 12 points
respectively.
      The Larks trailed Genesee until the closing seconds of regulation. A Yutzie shot from the lane tied the game at 62 to cap a comeback from a 13-point second half deficit. Hesston led for the first time (70-68) with 2:08 remaining in the first overtime. At the end of the period the score stood at 72-72.
      The second overtime started with a flurry as the Larks outscored Genesee 6-1. But the New York squad reeled off 10 straight points in a 15-2 run to end the contest.
      In their second game Hesston fell to Glendale (Ariz.) Community College 55-49. The Larks opened the contest with a 6-0 run and led for the first 10 minutes. By halftime Glendale built a 35-25 lead. A late flurry brought Hesston within two points with less than a minute remaining. The Gauchos hit four free throws to build a six point lead and end the game.
      Schmidt again led the Larks with 21 points bringing her Hesston career to a close with an HC record 1,041 points. Sophomore Shanna Roth of Grand Island, Neb. added 9 points and 14 rebounds. Schmidt tallied 13 boards.
      "This trip was a reward for all the hard work and effort that went into this season," commented Coach Joel Kauffman. "We started the year 0-7 but we didn't self destruct. We stayed with it. Losing can be a divisive thing in a team sport but we didn't let the bad start ruin the team.
      "Going into the tournament I wondered how our team would match up against the other teams, whether or not our region was as competitive as the rest of the country. We matched up very well. We were very competitive."
      The Larks ended the season with a 18-15 record. The roster includes: Jenni Schrock (Freeman, S.D.), Tara Froese (Inman, Kan.), Janel Jantz (Inola, Okla.), Tasha Propps (Hydro, Okla.), Carla Hathaway (Philadelphia, Mo.), Angie Smeltzer (Augusta, Kan.), Schmidt, Yutzie, Roth, and Nitzsche.
      This was Hesston's first trip to nationals in women's basketball. Hesston College is a two-year liberal arts college owned by the Mennonite Church.