Barton escapes opening round upset with 64-61 win over Shelton State

Barton escapes opening round upset with 64-61 win over Shelton State
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team moved into the quarterfinals of the 2008 NJCAA National Tournament, posting a 64-61 win over Shelton State (Ala) in the opening round at the Bicentennial Center in Salina Tuesday night. Barton build a double digit lead then held on as the 12th seed Shelton State rallied but 5th seeded Barton made the keys plays in the final minutes to avoid the upset. The Cougars will play the winner of Southeastern Illinois/ East Central (Miss) Thursday night at 8 pm in quarterfinal action at the Bicentennial Center. Barton improves to 33-2 with the win and has won 17 straight games to tie the 4th longest streak in school history for a single season. Shelton State moves into the consolation bracket and is now 28-5.

Highlights
The game was very similar to the Cougars' Region VI Championship and semifinal wins as they built a lead before hitting a dry spell in the 2nd half and letting their foes back in the contest. But, like those two games, the Cougars did what they needed to win and advance to the next round of the post season.

Barton used a 12-0 run early in the game to take a 12-4 lead and built it to 24-11 with 6 minutes left in the opening half. The lead reached 14 on 3 occasions in the opening half before Barton took a 34-23 lead to half. The lead again reached 14 points on 3 more occasions in the 2nd half – the latest at 46-32 with just more than 12 minutes to play in the game.

That is when the dry spell came for Barton. The Cougars didn't score for nearly 4 minutes as the Buccaneers reeled off 10 straight points to make it a 46-42 game. From that point on Barton never led by more than 6. The Buccaneers cut the lead to 53-52 with 5 minutes left. Barton responded with an Inga Muciniece basket and ensuing free throw on the foul for a 56-52 lead that eventually went to 58-52 with 4:20 to play.

But back came the Lady Bucs again. Six straight points by Shelton State tied the game for he 1st time since 4-all in the opening half. Barton's Kristine Silaraja hit a runner in the lane for a 60-58 Barton lead with 2:11 to play but Margaret Bell evened the game at 60-all with 1:48 left for Shelton.

The next 2 Barton possession would end up determining the outcome of the game. With 1:30 to play, Courtney Sturdivant feed Muciniece the ball in the paint and the 6-5 sophomore spun the goal and laid it in for a 62-60 lead. After a Shelton miss, Muciniece was fouled on the rebound and hit 2 free throws for a 64-60 lead with 1:10 to play. The Cougars would not score again but had enough defense in them to win.

Margaret Bell hit 1 of 2 free throws with 55 seconds left to make it 64-61 and Shelton had one last chance to tie with the ball in the final 20 seconds. The Buccaneers missed one 3-pointer with 9 seconds and got the rebound but thanks to pressure defense on the perimeter the Lady Bucs couldn't get another shot off before time expired.

It was a rare game in which Barton not only got out-rebounded but Shelton State scored 19 points off turnovers to just 12 for Barton – a stat the Cougars usually dominate. Each team only scored 2 fast break points – another stat Barton usually excels at.

Sturdivant led the Cougars with 21 points and 6 assists from her point guard spot. The freshman hit 7-of-9 free throws in the contest. Muciniece, Silaraja and Ipek Turkyilmaz each scored 10 in the win for Barton. Turkyilmaz grabbed 7 rebounds to pace Barton. Bell scored 21 for the Lady Bucs and had 12 rebounds along with Darnisha Lyles. Ayla Guzzardo scored 12 on 4 3-pointers for Shelton.

Barton will have to wait until the 2 pm game today to find out who its 2nd round foe will be. The No. 4 seed in the tournament – Southeastern Illinois (31-2) – takes on East Central (22-6) with the winner meeting Barton.

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

Next 
Thurs March 18 – v SE Illinois/East Central winner, 8 pm (NJCAA National Championship Quarterfinals at the Bicentennial Center in Salina)