Barton ends 14-year drought in Liberal; knocks No. 3 Seward from unbeaten ranks

Barton ends 14-year drought in Liberal; knocks No. 3 Seward from unbeaten ranks
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team had a lot of reasons to celebrate Wednesday night at the Green House in Liberal. First and foremost at hand was the snapping of a 14-year drought in the building with a 69-66 win over Seward County. The Cougars put together a rally in the final 5 minutes to rally from 9 down and earn the win. The win gave the Cougars (23-3) the best record in the Jayhawk West at 11-1. Seward (24-1) is 1/2 game back at 10-1. The win also capped a 2-game stretch that saw Barton win road games against Top 5 teams in the country. Barton won at No. 5 Cloud Saturday before the win at No. 3 Seward Wednesday. Barton will not play either of those teams again while Seward still has a trip to Cloud County next Wednesday. If Cloud wins that game and Barton wins its remaining 4 games, the Cougars will be the only 1 loss team in the conference.

Highlights
Barton got off to a quick start in the game, building a 14-point lead on the Saints, but like the match up in Great Bend, that quick start didn't last. Seward rallied back to take the lead and it looked like take command of the game with just 5 minutes to go. That is when Barton began to rally and it appeared the No. 3 team in the nation felt the pressure.

A Taushelle Rushing fast-break layup with 5 minutes to play gave Seward a 60-51 lead and, it appeared put the Saints on their way to their 215th win in the last 218 home games. But Barton came back with a pair of free throws Inga Muciniece on its next possession to make it 60-53. That is when the Saints started making mistakes. Barton's DePrice Taylor stole the ball the next trip down the floor and took it in for a layup to make it a 5-point game with 4:17 left.

The two teams traded misses on their next possessions, the Taylor again stole the ball and found LaToya Jackson for a layup with to take it 60-57 with 3:47 left in the contest, capping off a quick 6-0 run in 1 minutes of play. Seward's Tegan Cunningham ended the Cougars 6-0 run with a transition basket off a Barton miss, giving her at that time 34 points in the contest and Seward a 5-point lead with 3 minutes to play.

Following a time out, the Saints made one of the biggest errors of the game. Seward came on the floor with 6 players and didn't realize it until the Cougars had in-bounded the ball, resulting in a technical foul on the Saints. Barton's Andrea Barber knocked down both free throws to make it 62-59 and Jessica Halsig followed on the possession with her 1st basket of the game – a 3-pointer from the right wing to tie the game at 62-all with 2:30 to play.

The Cougars took the lead following a missed 3 by the Saints when Halsig's rainbow 3 from the left wing found nothing but net with 1:53 left to give Barton a 65-62 lead. That lead grew to 5 points after Seward missed a pair of close shots and Ipek Turkyilmaz converted a pair of free throws after being fouled on a rebound. That gave Barton a 67-62 lead with 1:30 to play, but Seward had one last run in them. Cunningham scored again to make it 67-64 and Rushing scored following a Barton turnover to make it 67-66 with 1 minute left in the game.

After another Barton turnover, the Saints return the favor on a simple pass on the perimeter to give the Cougars the ball back. Jackson hit two free throws after being fouled with 21 seconds left for a 69-66 lead. But the game had more drama left. Seward turned the ball over the next possession when Taylor stole the ball yet again. Seward fouled Barton's best free throw shooter, Barber, hitting better than 80 percent at the line on the year. But Barber missed both free throws to keep the Saints alive with 9 seconds to play. The Saints came down and nearly threw the ball away one more time, but were able to get a time out before that with just 2 seconds left in the game. But the Barton pressure only allowed a desperation fall-away 3-point attempt Chelsea Blackshear from the deep right corner as time expired that didn't even come close.

Several Cougars contributed in the big win, paced by Turkyilmaz and Barber with 13 points each. They were just 2 of 5 Cougars in double figures. Jackson and Muciniece struggled through tough shooting night from the field – a combined 7-of-28 – but hit 8-of-12 free throws a duo – including 4-of-4 in the final stages – and each finished with 12 points. Taylor added 10 points and 4 steals – including the 3 late in the game. Halsig made just the 2 baskets, but they were the two biggest shots of the game for the Cougars. Cunningham was a force for the Saints, finishing with 36 points and 18 rebounds.

Barton will be back at home for its next-to-last home game of the year when Garden City pays a visit to the Barton Gym Saturday night in the Cougars Homecoming and Hall of Fame night. The game will tip at 6 pm.

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

Next
Sat, Feb 17 – v Garden, 6 pm (Jayhawk West play at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)

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