Barton takes sole possession of West lead with 77-65 win over Hutch

Barton takes sole possession of West lead with 77-65 win over Hutch
The Barton Community College women's basketball team took a major step toward defending its Jayhawk West title Wednesday night with a 77-65 win over Hutchinson at the Barton Gym. The win put the Cougars in sole possession of 1st place in the West with 2 games to play. Barton is now 12-2 in the conference and 22-6 overall while Hutch falls to 10-3 and 23-4. Barton must win a road game at Colby and a home game against Pratt to secure its 2nd straight West title. The Cougars are off Saturday before hitting the road for its final road contest at Colby Wednesday in a 5:30 pm tip at the Community Building. Barton will take a 12-game winning streak to Colby.

Highlights
The Cougars held the lead for much of the contest but weren't able to put the Blue Dragons away until the final minutes of play. Barton led nearly the entire contest, jumping to a 22-10 lead midway through the opening half of play. Hutch would battle back to within a point at 25-24 but the Cougars opened up a 36-31 lead at intermission.

The Cougars continued to hold a lead of 1 to 5 points in the 2nd half until Hutch finally caught them at 46-all with 13:34 to play. The Blue Dragons took a 49-48 lead and again at 51-50 with 10 minutes left before Barton put together the game's most crucial run. Danielle Bird gave the Cougars a 53-51 lead with 9:53 to play on a 3-pointer and followed with a steal and a pair of free throws just 20 seconds later. Jordi James grabbed a missed Hutch free throw on the next possession, dribbled down the court and made a nifty pass to Samira Harper in the lane for a layup and 57-51 lead. The quick 7-0 Barton run took place in less than 45 seconds.

Barton pushed it to 59-51 with 8:14 left on another Harper bucket and eventually to 12 points on Harper's 3rd basket during a 15-2 run that gave the Cougars a 65-53 lead with 6 minutes to play. Harper added 2 free throws as well as she scored 8 in the run and Bird added 7 to combine for all 15 points. The Blue Dragons battled back as close as 4 at 67-63 and had a chance to cut the lead even further but a turnover by Hutch and a jumper by James with 1:36 left gave the Cougars a 6-point lead. Hutch would score just 2 points the rest of the way.

Barton had pushed the lead to 72-63 on 3-of-4 free throw shooting by Michelle White with the Blue Dragons fouling to try to get back in the game. At that point – with 37 seconds left – Hutch Coach Jon Ontjes was assessed a pair of technicals and ejected from the game. Barton's Kristine Silaraja hit all 4 free throws to give the Cougars a double digit lead.

Five different Cougars scored in double figures, paced by James with 14. Bird and Tressie Todd added 13. Harper scored 12 and White 11. Barton shot 52 percent from the floor in the 2nd half and turned what as a mild free throw advantage in a big one with 12 free throws in the final 93 seconds of the game. Barton hit 24-of-30 free throws during the win. Ariellea McGhee had a big night for Hutch, scoring 14 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

The Cougars get a week off before the trip to Colby, which may allow point guard Courtney Sturdivant time to get back on the court. She played briefly – 3 minutes – in the win over Hutch. It was her 1st action since injuring her knee in the win over Seward. Barton can take a share of the title with a win over the Trojans, who are 4-10 in the West and 9-19 overall. Barton finishes the season at home against Pratt (3-10, 10-17).

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

Next
Feb 25 – at Colby 5:30 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Community Building in Colby)