Cougars stay unbeaten with wins in Booster Club Classic

Cougars stay unbeaten with wins in Booster Club Classic
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team remained perfect on the season with a pair of wins at the Cougar Booster Club Classic over the weekend at the Barton Gym. Barton defeated the defending NJCAA Division II Champions Kirkwood (Iowa) Friday by a 73-58 margin. The Cougars came back Saturday with a win over No. 18 Northeastern Oklahoma, 81-73. Barton, ranked No. 25, is now 7-0 on the season. The contests were the final home games for Barton until the conference season in January. Barton will be in Hawaii next week for a pair of games at the Hoop-N-Surf Classic. The games in Hawaii can be heard over the internet. Follow the link on the Barton Women's Basketball Home Page at www.bartonccc.edu/sports.

Highlights
The Cougars got a good test by Kirkwood Friday, trailing at half 32-31. It was a 1st half that saw 6 ties and 7 lead changes with Kirkwood retaking the lead with a pair of free throws with 18 seconds to play in the half. It was a lead that grew to 4 points in the opening minute of the 2nd half when Kirkwood came out and knocked down a 3-pointer  to make it 35-31 with 19:42 to play.

That would be the last time Kirkwood would have the lead. Inga Muciniece started a 7-0 run with a layup from Courntey Sturdivant and Jessica Halsig followed with a 3-pointer. Muciniece capped the run with another bucket for a 38-35 lead with 17:52 to play. Another 9-0 run would follow for the Cougars after a Kirkwood basketball – highlighted by a 4-point play from Ipek Turkyilmaz – to give the Cougars a 47-37 lead with 15:35 to play.

Barton led by single digits the next the 8 minutes with Kirkwood cutting the lead as low as 5. Barton led by double digits much of the final 8 minutes before winning by the 15 point margin – the largest of the game for the Cougars. Muciniece ended with 22 points and 10 rebounds followed by 21 from Turkyilmaz to go with 9 boards.

Saturday was another tough test for the Cougars as No. 18 Northeastern Oklahoma opened the game hot from the outside. The Lady Norse hit 6-of-14 3-pointers in the 1st half and 55 percent overall. Barton was able to keep pace by connecting on 50 percent from the floor itself as the two teams battled to a 40-all score at intermission. The back-and-forth 1st half had 7 lead changes and 6 ties.

Like the previous night, Barton came out and took the lead in the opening minutes of the 2nd half and never trailed again. The Cougars used a 7-0 to start the half and kept a single digit lead until finally hitting a 10-point lead with 9 minutes to play at 65-55. NEO closed to within 4 at 65-61 but a 3-pointer by Kristine Silaraja sparked an 8-0 run to give the Cougars a 73-61 lead with 5 minutes to play.

NEO shot just 37 percent in the 2nd half but still managed the highest point total against the Cougars this season by 15 points. Sturdivant led all 5 Cougar starters in double figures with 20, adding 7 assists. Muciniece had a big game as well, scoring 16, grabbing 10 rebounds and handing out 7 assists. Silaraja had 13 point, including the big 3 to start the run that put the game away. She hit 3-of-4 treys on the night. Halsig added 12 points and 5 assists while Turkyilmaz scored 10.

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

Next 
Wed Nov 21 – v Jones County (Miss), 9:30 pm (Hoop-N-Surf Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii) 
Thur Nov 22 – v Marathon County (Wisc), 9:30 pm (Hoop-N-Surf Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii)