Barton avenges other loss; beats Seward 77-65

Barton avenges other loss; beats Seward 77-65
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team has now beaten both teams to have beaten them earlier this season. The 24-2 Cougars polished up the brief 2-game stretch of avenging earlier losses with a 67-55 win over Seward County Wednesday night at the Barton Gym. Saturday Barton defeated Cloud County – the Cougars other loss – by double digits as well. Barton remains atop the Jayhawk West by 1/2 game with a 10-2 record. Hutchinson and Cloud are both 9-2. Barton will play Hutch a week from Saturday at the Barton Gym. Seward drops to 8-3 in the West and 17-8 overall this season. The Cougars will travel to Garden City Saturday to take on the Broncbusters, who are currently battling for 5th place in the West.

Highlights
Seward got off to a quick start in the contest, grabbing 4-0 on the Cougars. Barton responded eventually going on a 12-2 run to turn a 9-all tie into a 21-11 lead. The Saints were dealt a blow in the opening half when 1st team All-American Teegan Cunningham picked up her 2nd foul with 8:34 to play in the half and had to take her 12 points at that time to the bench. Barton led by 3 at the time but couldn't shake the Saints even with their star on the bench. In fact a 3-pointer by Reagan Broadie with 4:58 to play in the half gave Seward a 31-30 lead. Barton went to half on top 38-34.

Cunningham picked up her 3rd foul less than 1 minute into the 2nd half but stayed in the contest. She picked up her 4th foul 3 minutes later and went to the bench with 16:33 left in the game. Barton led 41-39. Like the 1st half, the Saints were able to hang around with its star on the bench for a while but too much Courtney Sturdivant eventually put the Saints down 6 points. Seward had tied the game at 43-all – the 4th and final tie the game. Kristine Silaraja broke that tie with a bucket then Sturdivant scored back-to-back fast break baskets in a mater of 30 seconds. The 1st came off a rebound by Inga Muciniece, who found a streaking Sturdivant down court for the layup. On the next Saint possession, Sturdivant stole the ball went in for another layup and a 49-43 lead with 12:21 to play.

The Cougars still led by 6 when Cunningham came back in the game with her 4 fouls at the 9:03 mark. She played the rest of the way without picking up No. 5. Barton kept the lead around 5 points until 4 minutes remained when the Cougars – thanks to a stiff defense – slowly pulled away. Barton's defense shut down from the Saints from the 4:32 mark until just 58 seconds remained. During that stretch Barton went from a 63-58 lead to a 72-58 as the Cougars methodically worked the clock and hit free throws.

Sturdivant finished just 1 short of her career high, ending with 24 points to go with 5 assists. Ipek Turkyilmaz added 18 and 10 rebounds as she recorded her 3rd double-double of her career and the 1st of this season. Her 10 rebounds were also a season high. Muciniece put her 15th double-double of the season in the books – the 27th of her career – with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Silaraja added 11. Shelby Hillman had a good game off the bench for the Cougars, scoring 9 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and handing out 3 assists. Cunningham led Seward with 16 – 12 in the 1st half – well below her average of 22 points.

Barton will travel to the Perryman Center in Garden City Saturday to take on a much improved Garden team. The Broncbusters – with just 1 win last season – are 5-7 in the West and 10-16 overall. Garden is currently in 6th place in the West, just 1 game behind Colby for 5th.

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

Next 
Sat Feb 16 – at Garden City, 5:30 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Perryman Center in Garden City)