The difference per quarter was slim but when added together it spelled defeat for the Barton Community College women's basketball team as Cloud County Community College pulled away for a 74-62 win Wednesday night at the Barton Gym. Trailing by five at halftime the Lady Cougars kept things within reach through the third but simply ran out of juice and turned the ball over too many times in the fourth quarter as the T-birds continued their hot streak of winning five straight. The second straight loss for Barton drops the Lady Cougars to 6-12 in conference play and 14-15 overall while Cloud County improves to 11-6 in the Jayhawk and 19-9 overall. Barton will play its final regular season contest this Saturday traveling to No. 14 ranked Hutchinson Community College for a 5:30 p.m. tip at the Sports Arena. The Lady Cougars will begin Region VI tournament action on the road Thursday, February 25, at an opponent yet to be determined.
Coming off the bench as the Lady Cougars honored its sophomores in its starting five, freshman Regan Unruh led three players in double-digits with eighteen points with 2-of-4 coming from behind the arc. Kilee Harris, making her final appearance in the Barton Gym, sunk an impressive 12-of-13 from the charity strip finishing with fifteen points and a game leading four steals. Fellow sophomore Dominique Baker finished with eleven points including a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line while Megan Jirak, who ranks third in the KJCCC in rebounds and tops on the offensive glass, grabbed eleven boards including six on the offensive end.
As a team the Lady Cougars were 24-of-27 from the charity stripe and outrebounded the T-birds by two, but a dismal 29% shooting from the field and a season high twenty-five turnovers plagued Barton throughout the night.
Kaley Broeckelman led three T-birds in double figures scoring twenty-one. Erin Alexander, who set a new school record in single season blocks, swatted five in the contest while recording a double-double nineteen points and fourteen rebound performance while also leading the team with three steals. Kristina Farber added ten points while Katelyn Thomson dished out a team high six assists.