Barton ranked No. 8 in NJCAA preseason poll; picked 2nd in West

Barton ranked No. 8 in NJCAA preseason poll; picked 2nd in West
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team entered last season with limited expectations. Not only were the Cougars no where to be found in the NJCAA preseason poll, they were picked to finish in the bottom half of the Jayhawk West. This season things will be very, very different to start the year for Barton. This time around the Cougars are not only picked to challenge for the Jayhawk West title – selected to finish 2nd by the coaches in the conference – but Barton will start the 2005-06 campaign as the preseason No. 8 ranked team in the country

The Cougars – while being the highest rated team from the West – were selected to finish behind Colby by the conference coaches it was announced at the annual Jayhawk Conference Basketball Preseason Press Conference in Wichita Monday. Colby is a preseason No. 13 pick in the NJCAA poll. Cloud County is picked 3rd followed by Seward County, Hutchinson, Dodge City, Garden City, Pratt and Butler. Cowley County is picked to win the East with Coffeyville 2nd.

Barton will return 8 lettermen and 4 starters from last year's 22-12 team that lost in the Region VI Championship game to Seward. Sunshine Misa-Uli will return to the paint after picking up honorable mention all Jayhawk West honors a year ago. Uli, 6-0, averaged 9 points and 6 rebounds last season and was selected to the All Region VI Tournament team. Mayowa Onikute, 5-6, will back at the point guard spot for Barton, where she averaged 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assist in what was a very balanced Barton scoring attack. New to the Cougars this year will be Krishunna Hellen, 5-9, a transfer from Tyler Junior College, where she started and averaged 11 points and 4 rebounds.

Colby brings back 7 lettermen and 4 starters, including the Jayhawk MVP, Freshman-of-the-Year and Region VI 1st team pick Rita Kollo. Kollo led the West in scoring last season at 20 points as well as a West-leading 9 rebounds. Suzana Sormaz, a 13 points scorer and 41 percent 3-point shooter, is also back for Colby. Shareka Purnell, 3rd in the West in assists, will also return.

Cloud County returns a pair of starters, led by 6-2 post Kina Miller, a 12-point, 6-rebound performer from last season. Seward will have a new coach as Jim Littell left for an assistant's job at Oklahoma State. The Saints bring back two returning starters from the Region VI Champions of last season. Hutchinson will return two lettermen from last year's team. Dodge City lost nearly everyone from last years' 26-6 squad. Garden returns its top 4 scorers from last season led by Delia De La Torre and Ebony Allen, both 13 points scorers last year. Pratt lost its top players of the past 2 seasons but do bring back 3 starters and 4 lettermen from last year. Butler will have a new coach as well in former Wichita State head man Darryl Smith.

NJCAA Top 30
1. Central Arizona, 35-1
2. Moberly Area (Mo.), 30-6
3. Trinity Valley (Texas), 28-3
4. Gulf Coast (Fla), 27-4
5. Southeastern Illinois, 32-3
6. Chipola (Fla), 29-8
7. Western Nebraska, 33-3
8. Barton County, 22-12
9. Arkansas-Fort Smith, 32-3
10. Southern Idaho, 34-2
11. Cincinnati Tech, 32-3
12. Three Rivers (Mo), 20-12
13. Colby, 25-7
14. Midland (Texas), 23-9
15. Central Florida, 25-7
16. Iowa Western, 26-5
17. Arizona Western, 20-10
18. Gadsden State (Ala), 25-7
19. John A. Logan (Ill), 24-9
20. Northeast Mississippi, na
21. Louisburg (NC), 20-4
22. Northeastern Oklahoma, 26-6
23. Walters State (Tenn), 31-5
24. Georgia Perimeter, 26-5
25. Monroe (MY), 31-3
26. McLennan (Texas), 25-6
27. Lake Region State (ND), 30-4
28. Casper (Wyom), 16-18
29. Sauk Valley (Ill), 24-9
30. Dixie State (Utah), 21-10
Others – Black Hawk (Ill), 22-10; Cochise (Ariz), 19-10; Copiah-Lincoln (Miss), 15-10; Darton (Ga), 20-10; Jefferson (Mo), 28-4; North Dakota Science, 21-10; Northeast (Neb), 26-5; Northern Oklahoma-Enid, 25-8; Panola (Texas), 29-5; Seward County, 35-3; Shelton State (Ala), 27-4; Southwest Tennessee, 18-9, Southwestern Illinois, 18-12; Tyler (Texas), 15-15; Vincennes (Ind), 17-14; Weatherford (Texas), 18-10.

Jayhawk West poll
1. Colby (25-7, 11-5)
2. Barton (22-12, 9-9)
3. Cloud (15-16, 6-10)
4. Seward (35-3, 14-2)
5. Hutchinson (23-8, 9-7)
6. Dodge City (26-6, 12-4)
7. Garden City (14-16, 3-13)
8. Pratt (18-13, 5-11)
9. Butler (12-19, 3-13)

Next
Fri., Nov. 4 – v Iowa Western, 6 pm (Pizza Hut Classic at the Barton County Gym)
Sat., Nov. 5 – v Coffeyville, 6 pm (Pizza Hut Classic at the Barton County Gym)