Cougars clinch share of West title; can win conference outright Saturday
The Barton Community College women's basketball team earned at least a share of the Jayhawk West title Wednesday night and is now one win from claiming the title outright for the 2nd straight season. Barton defeated Colby 85-56 at the Community Building in Colby to move to 13-2 in Jayhawk West play – 1 game ahead of a trio of teams with just 1 game to play. The Cougars, ranked No 16 in the NJCAA, can claim back-to-back titles with a win over Pratt Saturday night at the Barton Gym. Barton is now 23-6 overall this season and have won 13 straight basketball games. Colby fell to 9-21 and 4-12 as the Trojans played their regular season finale.
Highlights
The Cougars never trailed in the contest and the game was tied only 2 times – the latest at 7-all 5 minutes into the opening half. Barton removed any doubt as to the outcome with a big run to end the 1st half. The Cougars led 24-18 with 7 minutes to play in the opening 20 minutes and promptly closed out those final minutes with a 22-0 run. The Cougars buried 4 3-pointers in the final 7 minutes to take a commanding 46-18 lead to the locker room.
Colby never cut the margin inside 20 after that with Barton's biggest lead coming at 33 points with 3 minutes to play in the contest. Brooke Conley tied her career-high in the win with 22 points to go with 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Kristine Silaraja added 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting behind the 3-point arc. Jordi James added 11 points and 5 assists while Danielle Bird scored 10 and dished out 5 assists as well.
Barton claim outright back-to-back conference titles and the 17th in school history with a win over Pratt Saturday. Pratt will bring 10-19 overall mark and a 3-12 West record to the Barton Gym. The Cougars can also clinch the top seed from the West in the upcoming Region VI tournament next week. The Cougars have clinched a home playoff spot but their seed and opponent have yet to be determined. The game will be Tuesday at 6 pm with a men's game to follow.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Feb 28 – v Pratt 6 pm (Jayhawk West contest at the Barton Gym in Great Bend)