Barton women overcome twenty-two point deficit in prevailing 102-92 over Neosho County #GoBarton

The Barton Community College women's basketball team overcame a twenty-two point deficit Wednesday evening at the Barton Gym to pull away in the final frame for a 102-92 win over Neosho County Community College.

The victory sends the Cougars to the Christmas break with a 2-2 record in the conference and 6-7 on the season while Neosho County remains winless in Jayhawk play at 0-4 and slips to 5-6 overall.

Barton will have over a three week break from competition before opening up the second semester January 4th in a 1:00 p.m. tip at Butler Community College.

Four Cougars reached double-figures on the night with a trio of players exceeding the twenty point mark and a pair posting double-double performances. Queen Ulabo took home team bragging rights with a career high twenty-eight points while pulling down ten rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year. Ulabo also entered the program record book sinking 14-of-17 from the charity stripe to tie for the fourth best single game performance in both categories.

The Cougars' season leading scorer Richelle Turney was close behind in the scoring column with twenty-six points, just two points shy of a career high.

Barton knocked down 10-of-19 from beyond the arc, 3-of-6 coming from Turney with the others coming Tiffany Dortland as the freshman tied a program fourth best seven made three-pointers in a sharp shooting 70% from long distance to post a career high twenty-three points.

Hannah Valentine closed out the double-digit scorers with a tremendous game inside the paint scrapping out a career high eighteen rebounds, eight on the offensive glass, while adding ten points for her first collegiate double-double. Valentine also dished out four assists in joining point guard Vanessa Oduah's four dimes with Kolby Davis leading the distribution with five.

Early on it was all Neosho County as the Panthers strung stretches of twelve and eleven points to build a 26-6 advantage. Burying their sixth three-pointer of the first quarter with 2:31 to play, the Panthers pushed their lead out to its largest at 28-6. Neosho County shot 61.1% from the field in the opening ten minutes including 58.3% from long distance as the seventh one rang the bell with eight seconds remaining giving Neosho a 35-14 lead late in the first quarter.

Barton began its climb back in the second frame by turning the tides in outscoring the Panthers 26-10 to close within 45-40 at halftime. Turney led the charge scoring seven of her twelve points in the quarter's first five minutes giving Barton life then later added another five in midst of a 15-3 close out of the frame's last 3:36 sending the Cougars to the locker room down just five.

Neosho County's five point spurt out of the intermission pushed the gap back out to ten but Dortland buried four three-pointers in the frame keeping the Cougars within striking distance.

As both teams lit up the scoreboard with twenty-eight points in the third period, it was Barton who would excel in the fourth. The Panthers' shots began to rim out and Barton surged ahead on an 8-0 run as Ulabo scored six straight putting the Cougars out in front by three. A Neosho County trey on the ensuing possession halted the run but Dortland's outside shots fell three more times leading a 15-2 Cougar stretch in four minutes to blow the game open by thirteen.

Neosho County drained two more long distance shots in the remaining two minutes but the Cougars were too solid from the charity stripe as Ulabo, Valentine, Turney, and Davis combined on 9-of-10 shooting to preserve the victory.

The Panthers put up forty-three shots from behind the arc, getting seven of the fifteen made from Chrissy Brown to lead all scorers with twenty-nine points in a near triple-double effort of eleven rebounds and nine assists. Haley Stiger dropped in twenty-one, Morgan Bolen added thirteen, and Jessica Jones contributed twelve as the trio combined for seven more of the Panther's long distance connections.

Barton held the final rebound edge on the stat line by thirteen leading to a thirteen point advantage in second chance points.