Barton earns 14-point win at Hutch; 26-3 for season with 1 game to play
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team completed the road portion of its schedule Saturday night in Hutchinson with a spotless record. The Cougars wrapped up a 10-0 road season with a 64-50 win over the Blue Dragons at the Sports Arena. Barton won its 11th straight by holding off the pesky Blue Dragons, eventually winning with its 2nd lowest point total of the season and the fewest points scored in a win. With the win, Barton moved to 26-3 overall this season and 14-1 in the Jayhawk West. The Cougars have just one game remaining in its season, a home tilt Wednesday against Colby. With a win Barton would clinch what would be a portion of the Jayhawk West title at 15-1 if not for being on department-wide probation this season.
Highlights
The Cougars looked poise to roll to another easy win midway through the opening half, leading Hutchinson 23-9 with just more than 7 minutes to play. But the Blue Dragons would not go away, trimming the lead to 28-22 at one point in the opening half before Barton took a 30-22 lead to intermission.
Hutchinson cut the lead to 4 on a pair of occasions in the 2nd half and trailed just 37-34 with just less than 15 minutes to play. That is when the Cougars put together one of its quick runs they have become noted for. In 3 minutes of action, Barton pushed that lead to 14 with a quick 9-0 spurt. An Andrea Barber 3-pointer started the run, followed by a fast-break layup by DePrice Taylor to make it 42-34. ChrisDell Harris added 2 baskets off offensive rebounds over the Cougars next 3 possessions and Barton led 46-34 with 11 minutes to play. Hutch would get in under 10 one more time, but a Jessica Halsig 3-pointer at the 10-minute mark gave Barton a double digit lead for good at 49-37. The biggest lead of the game came in the final minutes at 17 points.
The pesky Blue Dragon defense held the 86-point average down for the Cougars, allowing them to shoot just 38 percent from the floor. Freshman LaToya Jackson led the way for the Cougars with 18 points, hitting 4 3-pointers. Taylor and Barber added 13 and 12 for Barton while Inga Muciniece grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Barber added 6 assists and 4 steals. Hutch was paced by sophomore guard Tessa Morrow with 17 while Amber Shroer added 13.
Barton will conclude its season Wednesday and with a win will post the 3rd best winning percentage in school history at .900 with a 27-3 mark and give the graduating sophomores a 2-year record of 55-9.
Stats
Full stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Wed, Feb 28 – v Colby, 6 pm (Jayhawk West play at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)