Barton wins 5th straight in 89-44 victory over Pratt; now 21-2 on season
The Barton County Community College women's basketball team continues to work its way back toward repeat meetings with the only 2 teams that have beaten them this season. The Cougars won their 5th straight since those back-to-back losses Saturday night at the Barton Gym. Barton's latest victim – all by double digits – was Pratt, which the Cougars rolled by 89-44 on the Hill. Barton still has one more game – Wednesday at Dodge City – before Cloud County and Seward County visit the Barton Gym in back-to-back games. Cloud and Seward are the only teams to beat Barton this season. Barton is now 21-2 overall this year and 7-2 in the West. Dodge City is 0-9 in the West and 5-18 overall.
Highlights
The Beavers played well early against Barton, leading the opening 6 minutes of the game. The biggest lead came at 13-6 with 15:12 to play. That basket – layup by Sasha Crosby – was also the last points Pratt would score for 5 minutes. Barton scored plenty in those same 5 minutes.
The Cougars strung together a 16-0 run as 5 different players scored to give the Cougars a 24-13 lead. Barton led by double digits the rest of the half, pushing the margin to as high as 23 at 41-18 before settling for a 41-21 halftime lead. Barton led 47-25 early in the 2nd half before a 12-0 run pushed the lead to 59-25. The lead continued to swell, reaching 70-27 with 11:39 to play. The biggest lead of the game was 85-36 with 6 minutes to play.
All 5 Barton starters reached double figures with Ipek Turkyilmaz tossing in 20 points to lead the way. Turkyilmaz had one of her best overall games of the season. The 20 points were the 4th highest this year – her career high was 23 at Pratt – and the 9 steals she recorded were a career. Turkyilmaz added 7 assists (2nd most in her career behind 8 at Pratt this year) and 6 rebounds.
Kristine Silaraja added 19 points, Jessica Halsig 14 points, Courtney Sturdivant 13 and Inga Muciniece 10. Sturdivant had a career high 10 assists as well. Pratt was led by Ashley Scroggins with 10.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Wed Feb 6 – at Dodge, 6 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Civic Center in Dodge City)