The Barton Community College women's basketball team got off to a fast start Friday afternoon in Dodge City in cruising to a 78-35 win over the junior varsity squad of Tabor College in day one of the Dodge City Classic. The victory improves Barton to 2-1 on the early season while Tabor drops their season opener. Barton will return to the Civic Center on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. contest against fellow Jayhawk member Fort Scott Community College fresh off a 61-58 victory over host Dodge City Community College in the Friday evening game.
Dodge City freshman Katrina Roenfeldt began the Lady Cougar scoring sandwiching her 7th three-pointer of the season between two Tabor shots beyond the arc.
"We knew they could shoot," said Head Coach Carter Kruger in reference to the Blue Jays knocking down their first two three pointers. "After the first two shots we guarded better and controlled their attempts.
For the game Tabor finished 3-of-17 behind the arc while Barton shot 60% on 6-of-10 shooting.
Ciera Lampe, another Dodge City native, also provided an early spark with a block setting up a Roenfeldt layup that keyed an 11-0 run to as Barton began to take control. Consecutive steals by Keneisha Winfrey increased the Barton lead as the Cougars outscored the Blue Jays 21-2 to grab a 24-8 lead to the media timeout. Despite some letdowns and a 6-0 Tabor run to close the half, the Lady Cougars were in full control leading by seventeen at the break 37-20.
Barton kept attacking in the second half and back-to-back points in the paint by Bethany Bowman got the Lady Cougars out on 12-1 run in the first five minutes. Barton would cruise the rest of the way in earning the 78-35 win.
"It was the first time this season we played forty minutes at a high level," Kruger said. "That is the expectation our program has from here on out."
Phikala Anthony led three Lady Cougars in double digit scoring with fifteen as nine players scored. Coming off the bench Bowman dropped a career high thirteen points on 5-of-9 shooting while also grabbing career high marks with seven rebounds. Shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor including 2-of-2 from behind the arc, Roenfeldt scored twelve while leading Barton in steals with three. Kilee Harris had a solid defensive game tying Anthony for team high honors with eight rebounds and a team high five blocks to go along with seven points.
"We got a lot of contributions from many different people," said Kruger. "It's still just our third game of the year and we have a lot of room to improve."
Ali Nakvinda came off the bench to lead Tabor with nine points and five rebounds.