The Barton Community College women's basketball team picked up a much needed season series split Wednesday afternoon on a snowy day in southeast Kansas with a 60-51 victory at Coffeyville Community College.
The Cougars opened the action with seven straight points and never trailed, leading at halftime for the 19th time of the season, and building a fifteen point lead midway through the third quarter. Coffeyville made a run to cut the deficit to four early in the final frame, but unlike the previous meeting back in December at the Barton Gym, Barton held off the surge in knocking off the previous fourth place Red Ravens.
Barton snaps its two game slide with the victory, improving to 9-8 in conference and 12-11 overall while sending Coffeyville to its second straight loss in falling to 9-7 and 15-7 on the season.
Next up is a Saturday 2:00 p.m. tip at Cloud County Community College before getting back to the home floor next Wednesday hosting Pratt Community College in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
The Cougars shot 41.8% on the afternoon including 7-of-19 from beyond the arc led by Acorionna Lard's 3-of-4 shooting to lead Barton with a career high 18 points. In addition to the solid floor shooting, the Cougars controlled the boards after Coffeyville's 38.8% field goal shooting, outrebounding the Red Ravens 46-25 including grabbing 17 offensive boards to win the glass over its opponent for the 17th time of the season.
A pair of Cougars just missed double-double performances in helping to control the boards, Brennan Kirchhoff hauled down 11 rebounds while contributing 9 points and 5 assists with Jenny Nkem Womsi the only other Cougar in double figures by scoring 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.
A solid shooting night and controlling the boards was a difference maker as the Cougars sank a season low 38.9% (7-of-18) from the charity stripe and overcame turning the ball over 14 times in the first half before cleaning it up in second half action with just six second half miscues.
Kennady Roach's career high 14 points and 4 assists led the Red Ravens with Cheyenne Banks' tough inside play leading to 10 points and 7 rebounds, most coming in second half play. The region's third best scorer Faith Simpson scored just 8 points, seven below her average, as she joined Womsi in battling foul trouble all day before the two fouled out two minutes apart in the fourth quarter.
RECAP
Womsi powered inside for the Cougars' first four points with Lard beginning her career high night converting an And-1 giving Barton the opening 7-0 start.
The Red Ravens took the next six points but Womsi's inside jumper kept Barton out front as Lili Shubert drained her lone three-pointer of the game pushing the margin back out. Later in the frame Barton scored the final six points to cap off their 50% quarter with Lard putting up the final five points including knocking down the first of her treys by beating the quarter horn.
Kirchhoff's first of three triples on the day opened up the second ten minutes of play to cap Barton's 9-0 run across the quarters for a twelve point advantage. Coffeyville cut the deficit to five midway through but pinpoint passes from Kirchhoff and Lard led to Womsi and Alissa Heskamp baskets in the paint for the answer. Following a late Coffeyville basket, Lard again beat the quarter buzzer on a banked in trey completing Barton's 7-2 close out to lead 32-21 at the break.
Barton made Coffeyville pay for the Red Ravens' switch to a zone defense in the third quarter, Hall finding a seam for a 10' jumper, threes by Lard and Kirchhoff, and a floating drive from Meyers pushing the Cougars' lead to its largest at 42-27. From there the Cougars went dormant the rest of the frame with Coffeyville rattling off ten straight in the final 4:10 slicing the margin to five headed to the fourth.
Womsi's basket halted the run in opening up the final ten minutes, again providing another inside jumper for a then-seven point lead until the Red Ravens' triple on the ensuing possession cut it to 46-42 with just under eight minutes remaining.
Dayjsha Fanning's 1-of-2 free throws and bucket following Womsi's offensive rebound on the next possession held off the surge with Lard and Hall baskets and a Womsi 50% trip to the line completing an eight straight stretch in less than two minutes building the lead back out at 54-42.
Coffeyville's five straight sliced the gap back to five but the Red Ravens could only score four more points in the final four minutes. Shubert's floating jumper in the paint halted the Red Ravens' surge with Lard contributing Barton final four points, capping her night with a jumper before finding Shubert on the low block sealing the victory.