Late surge propels Cougars to Quarterfinals, Barton women defeat Garden City 66-58 in first round of Region 6 Tournament #GoBarton

In a highly contested first round Region 6 matchup Saturday afternoon at the Barton Gym, a late 7-0 run flipped the led for the 13th time as Barton Community College women's basketball team prevailed 66-58 hosting Garden City Community College.

The Cougars trailed for twenty-three minutes of the action but controlled the final two minutes as sophomore Brittany Simpson's 4th three-pointer of the game sparked Barton's late seven straight

Barton improves to 16-15 on the year while Garden City has its season end at 13-17.

Starting post-season play in the first round for the first time since 2021, the victory advances Barton to the Quarterfinal round for the 8th straight season. Next up will be a Tuesday night road trip to top seeded and 7th ranked Dodge City Community College for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.

Simpson's 4-of-8 behind the arc led to 12 points in closing out her time on the home floor with 8 rebounds helping the Cougars to a plus-thirteen rebound advantage.

A good load of the scoring came from its usual suspect in Vivian Onugha producing a game high 29 points and 21 rebounds with a block and two steals. Despite picking up her 3rd foul early in the third quarter, Onugha played clean the rest of the contest leaving it all on the floor for a full 40 minutes recording her 26th double-double of the season and grabbing 20 or more rebounds for the 9th time. The sophomore also sank 11-of-16 from the charity stripe, adding free throw attempts to her record book assault to a single season 4th most tries and 6th most for a career.

The Cougars also received a pair of 9-point outings from Regina Donanu and Keyona Hall, each making clutch second half plays and shots sparking Barton's comeback. The duo also combined for 7 rebounds, Donanu dishing out a team high 4 assists and 2 steals with Hall going 3-of-5 from the floor having to play cautious from early foul trouble before fouling out late.

Alaina Eck rounded out the Cougar's scoring with 7 points and 3 of the squad's 10 assists on 21 made buckets.

Garden City was led by Hadiya Kennerly's 17 points before fouling out shortly after draining her 5th triple from 5-of-21 long distance shooting.

Antonicia Moultrie was next with 13 points and 20 rebounds with 4 steals, holding her own going blow-for-blow versus Onugha for most of the contest until the Cougars limited her to just 2 points and 3 rebounds in the final frame.

Ana Ramos Pires added 8 points with Jordis Reisner coming off the bench for 7 points.

Barton finished 38.9% from the floor but was 8-of-16 in the fourth period while Garden City remained relatively steady throughout the quarters finishing at 36.4%.

Onugha's program record book impacts:
1st in Career Rebounds (821 – 13.0 per game)
1st in Season Offensive Rebounds (192 – 6.2 per game)
1st in Season Rebounds (500 – 16.4 per game)
2nd in Season Defensive Rebounds (315 – 10.2) – 13 behind Jenny Nkem Womsi's 328 (2022-23)
6th in Career Free Throw Attempts (315 – 5.0 per game) – surpassed Pikala Anthony's 310 (2013-15), 3 behind Jenny Nkem Womsi's 318 (2021-23) and 20 behind Ashton Bruner's 335 (2012-14)
4th in Season Free Throw Attempts (198) – surpassed Nicole Etizmann's 195 (1994-95) and Katashia Witcher's 196 (1996-96), 8 behind Wendy Okeson's 206 (1999-00), 10 behind Phikala Anthony's 208 (2014-15), and 50 behind leader Jaylin Stapleton's 248 (2018-19)