Cougars wind up tough opening weekend with loss to No. 7 New Mexico #GoBarton

The Barton Community College women's basketball team took its second loss in less than twenty-four hours to begin the season with an 86-38 loss early Saturday afternoon at 7th ranked New Mexico Junior College.

Returning to the court approximately eighteen hours following a hard fought three-point defeat against 8th ranked Odessa College, the Cougars faced a thirteen point opening quarter deficit and never recovered.

Barton will next play the 1:00 p.m. contests in the two-day BSN Tip-Off Classic in Hutchinson against a pair of junior varsity squads, the first coming Friday versus Bethany College with Saturday's action against Tabor College. New Mexico completes the weekend unbeaten after posting a century mark output Friday against Trinidad State College.

Another double-double performance from Vivian Onugha led the Cougars with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Eva Clements, who didn't reach the scoring column on Friday, came off the bench for 7 points.

Posting career highs the day prior, Brittany Simpson and Macie Smith were held in check, combining for 3-of-8 from beyond the arc in finishing with six and five points respectively.

The Cougars cut down on turnovers which plagued them Friday, finishing at 18 but shot just 27.8% from the field including 4-of-15 from long range.

New Mexico connected on 43.7% of their shots, 10-of-26 from three-point land, while holding a five rebound advantage leading to a plus-11 second chance points with the Thunderbirds also controlling the paint in a plus-14 point statistical edge.

Amyah Sutton led all players with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting with Pania Davis' 50% from the field added 12 points.