The Barton Community College women's basketball team led by one at the break but faded in the second half as Iowa Western Community College would roll on to an 83-64 victory Tuesday night in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The loss drops Barton to .500 on the season at 4-4 while the Reivers keep their home record unblemished improving to 3-4 on the year.
The Cougars continue their brief two game road stretch in final preparation of conference play with a trip south to El Reno, Oklahoma, on Friday to take on Redlands Community College in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
A Barton 8-0 run behind four points each from Vanessa Oduah and Richelle Turney put the Cougars up 10-6 midway through the frame but the Reivers countered with their own eight point stretch to regain the lead. Barton had the final shot of the quarter but a turnover resulting in a Reiver offensive put-back off a missed three-pointer gave Iowa Western a four point 18-14 lead at the buzzer.
The second frame was similar to the first as the two foes traded spurts of strung together points. Barton had the first spurt, capped by reigning conference player of the week Queen Ulabo's conversion of a hoop-n-harm from Kolby Davis' nice dish through the lane, with IWCC answering with their own five point stretch. Oduah keyed a 7-0 Barton answer with buckets on either end of Hannah Valentine's old fashioned three-point play only to have the Reivers connect on back-to-back treys to regain the lead 29-26. A pair of D'Shonda Hunt free throws with a later 1-of-2 trip to the line following an IWCC bucket set up Barton's opportunity to lead at the locker room with Oduah canning a triple before the buzzer.
Oduah would again beat the buzzer to end the third but not before IWCC outscored the Cougars 21-14 in the frame for a 51-46 lead with Barton losing their leading scorer as Turney went to the bench early in the quarter from an injury. The Reivers' 5-0 start to the frame was countered by a four point Barton spurt, with the separation on the scoreboard occurring behind seven straight for a 43-36 advantage. Barton closed to within five on multiple occasions including Oduah's slash through the lane capping the third frame scoring.
Iowa Western continued to put Barton away in the final period as the Cougars struggled to find offensive rhythm. Opening up a ten point lead just three minutes into the period, another seven point spurt all but buried Barton on a sixteen point margin with under four to play. The Cougars cut it to thirteen on the next possession from KayCee Miller's three pointer enroute to a career high six point evening but the Reivers continued the pressure knocking down another three pointer extending the lead back out to an eventual twenty point margin.
Oduah led the Barton scoring with thirteen, eleven coming in first half action, as Hunt tied a career high twelve. Tiffany Dortland's pair of second half triples finished with six to join Davis and Miller.