Records fall in Barton’s 102-56 win over Butler

Records fall in Barton's 102-56 win over Butler
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team did some rewriting of the record book Wednesday night in its 102-56 win over Butler at the Barton Gym in Jayhawk West play. A pair of single game records fell and one career mark fell as the No. 8 Cougars improved to 12-2 in the West and 26-2 overall. The Cougars knocked down 20 3-pointers in the game, shattering the old mark of 16 set last season against Pratt. Ipek Turkyilmaz, already the career leader in 3-pointers at Barton, led the assault with a record 8 treys, besting the mark of 7 set by Victoria Carlile in 2005. Inga Muciniece also became the career leader in rebounds, surpassing Sheila Hubert on the top of that list. Muciniece has 634 career boards. Barton is now alone atop the West with 2 losses. Cloud County, Seward County, and Hutchinson all have 3 losses. The Cougars have just 2 games left to wrap up the top spot in the West, starting with a big game Saturday at 6 pm when Hutchinson visits the Barton Gym.

Highlights
It wasn't much of a contest from the onset as Barton jumped to an 8-0 lead in the1st 2 minutes on 3-pointers by Turkyilmaz and Jessica Halsig. That was a very good precursor for things to come. The lead reached 20 by late in the 1st half as Barton took a 50-29 lead to halftime. Barton hit a sizzling 10-of-17 on 3-pointers in the half, led by Halsig and Turkyilmaz who combined to go 8-for-11 in the half with each hitting 4 treys.

The lead reached 30 at the midpoint of the 2nd half and when Turkyilmaz hit a 3-pointer with 9:40 left it was 82-47 and she had a school record 8 3's in the contest. Kristine Silaraja and Halsig hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 93-50 with 5:40 to play in the game and give Barton 20 3-pointers. Those would be the final 3-point attempts of the night for Barton.

The final numbers were staggering from behind the arc as Barton hit 20-of-31 3-point shots during the win. After going 10-of-17 in the opening half, Barton was 10-of-14 on 3's in the 2nd half. Turkyilmaz finished 8-of-11 and Halsig 6-of-9. Halsig's 6 makes are tied for 3rd best all-time at Barton. Ironically, Barton hit just 13-of-39 inside the 3-point line. With her 8 treys, Turkyilmaz now has 70 for the season, which puts her in position to break that record this year as well. The record for most 3-pointers in a season is 81 set by Sonja Swopes in 1993-94. Turkyilmaz had 78 last year – 2nd best all-time. The sophomore from Turkey has at least 3 more games in which to reach that mark and probably more. The Cougars have now made 233 3-pointers on the season, well within reach of the record of 242 set last year.

Turkyilmaz led the way with a career-high 29 points followed by Halsig, who also scored a career-high with 24 points. Silaraja added 3 treys in the game and finished with 23 points. Muciniece grabbed 12 boards to lead the Cougars with Turkyilmaz adding to her big night with 10 rebounds for her 4th double-double of her career. Courtney Sturdivant led the Cougars with 8 assists. Phylicia Freeman led Butler with 17 points. LaKeisha Levi scored 13 in the 1st half before being ejected for a flagrant foul.

Barton can clinch at least a share of the West title when Hutchinson pays a visit to the Barton Gym Saturday in 'Pack the House' night. The Cougars at 12-2 hold a lead of 1 1/2 games over the trio of Hutch, Cloud and Seward – all 10-3. Barton's only remaining games are Saturday against Hutch and at Colby Wednesday. The Cougars have a bye the final date of the season.

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

Next 
Sat Feb 23 – v Hutch, 6 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)