For the second straight game the Barton Community College women's basketball team had the tall task of taking on a ranked opponent on the road.  Saturday night at the Hutchinson Sports Arena the Lady Cougars rally came up short in dropping a 69-58 decision to No. 3 ranked Hutchinson Community College.   After trailing by fourteen at halftime, Barton outscored Hutchinson by three in the second half including drawing to within eight in last moment of play.  The loss drops Barton to 18-11 overall and into sixth place at 6-7 in the conference standings.  The Lady Cougars wrap up the regular season on Wednesday hosting one of the teams they are chasing, the 7-6 Garden City Community College Broncbusters.  Should Barton defeat Garden City for the second time this season, the Lady Cougars could move into fourth spot and host a Region VI first round home playoff game.  Barton would need the scenarios of Pratt losing at Seward County and Cloud County getting a win at Colby.  Game time for Wednesday's pivotal game against the Broncbusters is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Barton Gym with sophomore recognition night to immediately follow.

Ashton Bruner and Cheyenne Hedrington led three Barton players in double digit scoring with fourteen points each while also tying for the team lead in rebounds with eight each.  Phikala Anthony came off the bench to have one of her better nights in a Barton uniform knocking down 4-of-6 shots from the field in scoring thirteen points and grabbing seven rebounds.  Kailai Brantner led the team with four assists and three steals.

The super sixth man of the Blue Dragons Kalani Purcell led two Hutchinson players with a double double performance of eighteen points and ten rebounds while finishing second on the team with four assists.  Jaime Patrick scored fifteen while grabbing seven boards and recording three steals.  Jen'Von'Ta Hill led the Blue Dragons with five assists and added nine points.

More photos available on the Barton Sports Flickr page