No. 8 Barton impressive in win at Dodge; runs winning streak to 17 games
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team appears to have shifted back into full gear. The Cougars backed up on if its best halves of basketball Saturday night with one of its best full games Wednesday night. Barton rolled to an impressive 80-57 road win over Dodge City at the Civic Center in Dodge in Jayhawk West action. Barton jumped out to an early lead and kept the barrage on the Conquistadors all night long. The win was the 17th straight for the No. 8 ranked Cougars, who are now 19-1 overall and still perfect in the West at 6-0. Dodge fell to 15-5 overall and 3-3 in the West. Barton will have a battle for the top spot in the West Saturday when No. 15 Cloud County visits the Barton County Gym.
Highlights
After putting up just 6 points in the 1st 10 minutes of its last game before catching fire, the Cougars exploded out of the gates Wednesday night. Barton scored the 1st 9 points of the game and Dodge City never got closer than 5 points down after that. Barton ended the 1st half on a 7-1 run to take a 44-29 lead to halftime. It was a half in which Barton shot barely less than 50 percent from the floor, scored 17 points on 15 Dodge City turnovers, and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. This output from a team that shoots less than 60 percent from the line for the season.
During the final 20 minutes, Barton was never seriously challenged by the Conquistadors. Dodge was never closer than 15 points and in the final 10 minutes, never got closer than 21. Barton's biggest lead of the night was 30 points on a pair of occasions.
KG Hellen led four Barton players in double figures with 15 points. She was followed by Stephanie N'Garsanet with 12, Victoria Carlile with 11 and ChrisDell Harris with 10. N'Garsanet led Barton with 8 rebounds followed by Sharece Love with 6. Hellen dished out 4 assists and had 4 steals to lead Barton.
The 17th straight win ties the 4th longest streak in school history. Next in line at No. 3 is 20 straight during the 1985-86 season. The longest streak in school history is 32 games in 1989-90. Barton will have a tough chore winning its 18th straight with No. 19 Cloud County coming to the Barton Gym Saturday. Cloud County is 18-2 overall this season and 5-1 in the West. A win by Cloud would put them in a tie with Barton for the top spot in the conference. Cloud and Colby are both 5-1 and tied for 2nd.
Stats
Complete stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Sat., Jan. 28 – v Cloud County, 6 pm (Jayhawk West play at the Barton County Gym)