A tough start Monday at the Greenhouse was too much for the Barton Community College women's basketball team to overcome in falling 68-56 at Seward County Community College.
Four of the Cougars' seven first quarter turnovers came in the opening four minutes, digging a ten point deficit leaving Barton fighting from behind all night. Eventually trailing by sixteen in the second half, the Cougars cut the deficit to seven a pair of times but the Saints wouldn't be denied in capturing their 10th straight home win in the series dating back to 2012.
The Cougars' four game win streak also ends, dropping Barton to 12-9 and fifth place in conference play and 15-12 overall while Seward County solidifies its third place standing at 15-6 and 20-8 on the season.
Three games remain on the regular season slate, two of those at home beginning Wednesday hosting Northwest Kansas Technical College in a 5:30 p.m. tip. Barton will then travel to Colby on Saturday before winding up at home Wednesday, February 23rd, against Dodge City Community College.
Morgan Meyers scored ten of her team leading 15 points in second half play and hauled down a game high nine rebounds helping Barton outrebound its opponent for the 21st time of the season. Cora Anderson provided a big lift off the bench with a season high 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in the Cougars' 44-36 glass advantage. Acorionna Lard knocked down two of Barton's four three-pointers to finish at 10 points.
Zhane Thompson's 18 points was the big producer for the Saints, canning 3-of-7 behind the arc including a pair helping Seward County get off to a 13-2 start then drained her third midway through the fourth quarter providing a dagger after Barton's last time of cutting the deficit to seven. Halima Salat buried 4-of-5 beyond the arc in coming off the bench for 14 points, Hulda Joakim added 12 points, and Sierra Lynch contributed 10 points.
Called out by Seward County Head Coach Todd Ciochetto in his post-game interview on Saturday the Cougars couldn't handle the Saints' pressure, Barton proved the second-year coach right in the first quarter by committing seven turnovers. The Cougars settled in after the rough start to commit just eight more and played the Saints relatively even in the final thirty minutes.
Neither team shot well from the field, Barton at 36.8% and 4-of-19 from three-point land while Seward County shot just 34.3% with a twelve point differential coming from beyond the arc on 33.3% shooting.
Another telling stat difference came at the free throw line. In the previous teams' meeting in Great Bend, Barton set a program record of 51 attempts in making a second most 39 for a 76.5% clip. Monday the Cougars could only get to the line 19 times but couldn't capitalize on the opportunities when they did in sinking just 10 for just 52.6%. The Saints weren't exactly sharpshooters at the line either with 66.7% shooting, making 14 of their 21 attempts.
RECAP
The Cougars dug the early hole turning the ball over in each of its four possessions in not cracking the scoreboard until 4:30 had clicked off the clock on Morgan Meyers' slash through the paint. Seward County meanwhile, shook off a 0-3 shooting start before scoring ten straight points for the early big lead.
Shooting a quarter high 46% in the opening frame but offset by the seven turnovers, Barton committed four more in the second quarter and shot a quarter low 27% but managed to be outscored by just one resulting in a nine point halftime margin.
The Saints stretch the lead to sixteen three minutes into the third and held a thirteen point edge with 3:28 left in the third before Barton put together an 8-1 stretch cutting it to six. Three points from Meyers began the spurt followed by a Lili Shubert triple and Anderson's bucket but a critical offensive rebound tip-out resulting in a sixteen foot buzzer beater pushed the margin back out to eight.
Cutting the deficit to seven early in the final quarter after Shubert's inside bucket, Anderson's season high 12th point following a Saint 4-0 run brought the deficit back into single digits for the last time with 9:02 remaining. Seward County scored the next five and later tacked on another five matching its largest lead with 3:02 left.