Cougars knock off West leader Cloud; in 4-way tie atop conference

Cougars knock off West leader Cloud; in 4-way tie atop conference
The Barton Community College women's basketball team has worked its way back from an 0-2 start to Jayhawk West play to a tie atop the conference after defeating co-leader Cloud County 81-69 at the Barton Gym Monday. The win was the 7th straight for the Cougars since that 0-2 start and they now stand with 3 other teams at 7-2 in the West. Cloud entered the game ranked No. 10 in the NJCAA. Barton improves to 17-6 overall with the win while Cloud – also 7-2 in the West – is now 19-4. The Cougars don't get a breather as West co-leader Seward County comes to the Barton Gym Wednesday for a 6 pm tip. Seward will be coming off a loss to the 4th co-leader Hutchinson Monday night in Liberal.

Highlights
The two clubs traded the lead in the early stages of the contest before a 7-2 gave the Cougars an 18-13 lead capped by a 3-pointer from Danielle Bird. Barton would keep that lead the rest of the half and for the most part the rest of the game. The Cougars took a 36-33 lead to halftime, hitting 55 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

The Cougars continued to hold their lead of 2-6 points until the midway point of the 2nd half. Cloud put together a 6-0 run to grab a 58-57 lead which would get up to 60-58 with 9 minutes left. Barton would answer with an 8-2 run paced by 6 points from Jordi James to retake a lead the Cougars would not give back. Barton slowly stretched the lead over the final 5 minutes with the biggest lead being the final margin of 81-69. The win avenges a loss earlier by Barton in Concordia.

Bird tossed in a career-high 17 points to lead the Cougars, hitting 7-of-11 shots from the floor. She also had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals in one of the freshman's best outings this year. Kristine Silaraja added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting as 5 Cougars scored in double figures. Courtney Sturdivant, Annie Kassongo, and James all had 12. Silaraja led Barton with 5 assists while Sturdivant, Silaraja, and Kassongo all grabbed 6 boards to lead the Cougars. Cloud was led by Sharniece Saunders with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The other loss early in conference play was to Seward in Liberal. Barton will get a chance to avenge that loss as well and keep pace with the West leaders Wednesday night. Tip for the contest will be at 6 pm at the Barton Gym. The Cougars have been hard to beat at home this year and past 3 years as Barton is 37-2 at home during the past 3 seasons.

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

Next
Feb 4 – v Seward 6 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)