Barton drops 2nd straight West contest; loses to Hutch 52-50
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team has been viewing the Jayhawk West from the top half of the conference nearly all season long. That view may change if the Cougars don't find their winning formula again quickly. Barton lost for the 2nd straight time Saturday night, losing at home to Hutchinson, 52-50. Barton had beaten Hutch by 15 points in Hutchinson earlier this year. The loss drops the Cougars out of 4-way tie for 2nd place in the West. Barton is now 7-5 in the West and 17-9 overall. Hutch remains in a 2nd place tie with an 8-4 West mark and is 21-4 overall. Barton will host Butler Wednesday at 5:30 pm as it tries to right the ship.
Highlights
Barton struggled from the floor in the loss, hitting just 35 percent from the floor for the contest. Meanwhile Hutch, which also just hit 35 percent from the floor, knocked down 9-of-25 3-pointers for the difference in the contest.
Barton jumped out to a 17-4 lead on the Blue Dragons but would see that lead dwindle as the 1st half went on. The Cougars scored just 4 points the final 9:33 of the half as Hutchinson cut the lead to 21-18 by intermission. The Blue Dragons continued to whittle away at the Barton lead until finally overtaking the Cougars with a 5-0 run to start the 2nd half.
The Blue Dragons held the lead in the 2nd half until just 6 minutes remained. Barton finally took the lead on a jumper by Brittany Ridley at 41-40 and pushed it to 44-40 on a Ridley layup and ensuing free throw. Barton struggled to score the rest of the contest as Hutch retook the lead and pushed it to 51-48 before a Mayowa Onikute layup with 6 seconds left made it 51-50. After a Hutch free throw, Barton had one last chance to tie the game but an Onikute jumper from the left elbow bounded off, giving the Blue Dragons the road win.
Ridley was the only Cougar in double figures with 11 points. She also had 6 rebounds, one short of the team lead of 7 by fellow point guard Onikute. Wendy Fehrenbach hit 5 treys for Hutch and scored 17 points to pace four Blue Dragons in double figures.
Stats
Full box scores and stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Wed., Feb. 23 – v Butler, 5:30 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton County Gym)