Cougars win at No. 11 Cloud; controls destiny for West 2nd seed in Region

Cougars win at No. 11 Cloud; controls destiny for West 2nd seed in Region
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team is back on a winning streak and appears to have recaptured some of that momentum the Cougars had earlier this season. Barton ran it winning streak to 3 – all on the road – with an impressive win at No. 11 Cloud County. Barton defeated the Thunderbirds 57-46 thanks to an impressive defensive effort at Bryant Gymnasium Saturday night. The Cougars moved within a half-game of 2nd place but more importantly into a tie in the loss column for 2nd with Cloud. If the Cougars win out, Barton will be the No. 2 seed from the West in the upcoming Region VI playoffs. Barton improved to 10-4 in the West and 23-5 overall. Cloud is now 11-4 and 24-5 overall. The T-Birds have one game left – a road trip to Garden – while Barton has two home games left with Dodge and Seward.

Highlights
Barton led nearly the entire contest and never trailed in the game after Stephanie N'Garsanet scored to give the Cougars an 8-7 lead with 15 minutes to play. The score was tied on two more occasions but the Cougars never trailed. Barton built its lead to as many as 5 points several times in the half as the Cougars defensive stalled a Cloud offense that averaged 79 points a game. Barton held the T-Birds to just 7 field goals on the 1st half. But Barton couldn't separate itself from Cloud as the Thunderbirds matched the Cougars defensive intensity. The Cougars took a 24-22 lead to halftime.

After Barton opened up a 6 point lead early in the 2nd half, Cloud answered with a 6-0 run to tie the contest at 31-all. Victoria Carlile ended the run with a 3-pointer from the corner and Barton led the rest of the way. Carlile put a dagger the Thunderbirds once again, this time with Cloud down by just 2 with 8 minutes to play. Another Carlile 3,this one from the top of the key, gave Barton a 43-38 lead with 7:28 left and kick-started Barton on a 7-0 run that gave the Cougars its biggest lead at the time, 47-38, with 6 minutes to play. That lead just continued to grow as the Cougars outscored Cloud 17-6 the final 7:30 of play.

Carlile, and those 2 big treys, led Barton with 14 points. Sunshine Uli had 11 and N'Garsanet 10 to lead the Cougars. N'Garsanet also added 7 boards to pace Barton while Andrea Barber dished out 4 assists. Sharece Love led a strong defensive effort with 4 steals and 6 rebounds while playing a big role in limiting the Cloud County frontline of Stanecia Graham and Kina Miller to just 12-of-31 shooting to get a combined 29 points. Both players shoot 54 percent from the floor on the season. Earlier this season the two combined to score 49 points in Cloud's earlier win at Barton hitting 17-of-29 shots. Graham had 31 points at Barton but scored just 11 Saturday night.

Barton now has control of the 2nd seed from the West in the Region VI tournament just more than a week away. If the Cougars can win home games with Dodge City Wednesday and Seward County Saturday – a tough task – then Barton will have the No. 2 seed over Cloud County if the two teams tie for 2nd. The Cougars would have the tiebreaker over Cloud thanks a win over West champion Colby earlier this season. Two losses and Barton could fall to the No. 4 spot from the West.

Stats
Complete stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Wed., March 1 – v Dodge City, 6 pm (Jayhawk West play at the Barton County Gym)