Knocking down a season high eleven three-pointers, the Barton Community College women's basketball team couldn't overcome turnovers and second chance opportunities Saturday in El Dorado as Butler Community College held off the Cougars for a 79-71 victory.
The loss drops Barton to 2-3 in conference play and 6-8 on the season as the defending Region VI champions win their seventh straight over the Cougars at the Power Plant improving to an East leading 4-2 mark and 11-5 overall.
Barton will look to get back into the win column in the spring semester's first home game coming Wednesday in hosting Cloud County Community College in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
The Cougars' long distance shooting marks the second straight game of ten or more three-pointers but connected on just 30.6% of the shots behind the arc. Barton's big statistical deficit came in a minus seven in the turnover column leading to an eight point scoring margin and gave up eighteen offensive rebounds for another eight point swing.
A pair of 10-0 runs for each team left the teams tied at 22 with 6:51 left in the second frame as Butler's ten point spurt led to an eventual 18-10 first quarter lead while Barton's ten-pack of points erasing the deficit for the game's final deadlock.
Butler's 37-30 halftime lead stretched to eleven out of the locker room with the Cougars battling back to draw within three twice in the third quarter and within five to start the final frame behind Brynn Willt's second consecutive three-pointer stretching on each side of the quarters.
Eight straight to answer Willt's trey expanded the Butler lead out to fourteen points as the Grizzlies outscored Barton 11-3 in the deciding stretch for a 67-53 advantage with seven minutes remaining.
The Cougars however would make things interesting late in the contest stringing together 10-2 stretch behind four points from Vanessa Oduah, three from D'Shonda Hunt, and capped by a Queen Ulabo to draw within 78-71 with 1:11 left.
Barton got a defensive stop they needed but it followed with one of its 26 turnovers as Butler would tack on a free throw in the remaining minute with Barton missing on a pair of three-point attempts for the final margin.
Richelle Turney and Oduah led three Cougars in double-digits with seventeen each with Hunt dumping in eleven and just missing a double-double in hauling down nine rebounds.
Tamara Nard matched the pair of Cougars for game high totals with seventeen as RaVon Nero was a point behind finishing with sixteen. Zayda Perez added twelve with Jaelynn McLaurian scoring ten and securing nine rebounds.