Barton sees 12-game winning streak end in 73-63 loss to No. 5 Seward
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team has made 3-point shots on a record pace this season. But no one would have known it by watching the Cougars Monday night against No. 5 ranked Seward County at the Barton County Gym. The Cougars didn't hit a 3-pointer until 1:29 remained in the game, missing their 1st 14 3-point attempts. The result was the 1st loss in 13 games and the 1st setback in Jayhawk West play. Barton lost to the Saints, 73-63, to fall to 15-3 overall this season and to 3-1 in the Jayhawk West, out of a 1st place tie with the Saints. The Saints remain unbeaten this season, improving to 3-0 in the West and 17-0 overall. The game was a makeup from  Saturday night when Seward did not make the trip to Barton due to weather. Barton will try to rebound when they hit the road Wednesday, traveling to Garden City. Garden City is 1-14 this season.

Highlights
Barton jumped out to an early lead in the game – as had been the norm the last several games for the Cougars. They jumped to a 10-1 lead on the Saints a little more than 6 minutes into the contest. But that didn't last long as Barton went into an offensive funk, thanks in large part to a pesky trapping press and a smothering zone defense by the Saints. Barton scored just 5 points over the next 4 minutes as the Saints cut the lead to 17-13. Seward continued to chip away, eventually taking a 20-19 lead on the Cougars. Barton was able to regain that lead at intermission, 30-27.

An 8-2 run by Seward to start the 2nd half gave the Saints a 35-32 lead on the Cougars, which they would hold most of the final 18 minutes. Barton did have a couple of 1 and 2 points lead until the 10 minute mark, the latest coming at 44-43 with 11:50 to play. That is when Seward went on an 8-0 run to take a 51-44 lead. That turned into a 14-2 run as Seward built a 57-46 lead with 8:46 to play. The run eventually hit 24-6 when the Saints took 17-point lead at 67-50 with 4:49 to play.

The closest Barton would get after that was 9 points in the final minute of the contest. The Cougars entered the game hitting more than 8 3-pointers a game at a 37 percent clip. The Cougars made their 1st – and only – trey of the game on a LaToya Jackson 25-footer with 1:29 to play. Barton finished the game just 1-of-17 on 3-pointers. Inga Muciniece led the Cougars with 21 points and 18 rebounds as the 6-5 freshman recorded her 7th double-double of the season and the 6th in the last 7 games. Jackson added 17 points on 10-of-10 free throw shooting. Chelsea Blackshear led 3 Saints in double digits with 19.

Stats
Full stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports

Next
Wed, Jan 17 – at Garden, 6 pm (Jayhawk West play at the Perryman Center at Garden City)