The Barton Community College women's basketball team failed to protect a four point halftime lead Wednesday night in Arkansas City, as the Lady Cougars were outscored by fourteen points in the final twenty minutes in losing 85-75 at nationally receiving votes Cowley College. The third straight loss sends Barton to 8-10 in conference play and 11-11 on the season while Cowley improves to 13-5 in the Jayhawk and 17-5 overall. Next up for the Lady Cougars is a 3:30 p.m. tip-off Saturday at the Barton Gym against Allen County Community College.
Barton trailed by five early before a 10-0 spurt put the Lady Cougars in front. Jalisa Jones not only gave Barton a 16-10 lead headed to the second quarter knocking down just her 3rd three-pointer of the season to beat the opening ten minute buzzer, but scored the first two points of the second giving Barton its largest lead of eight in the contest. The Tigers cut into the deficit drawing to within four before a pair of Baylee Robinson free throws and Regan Unruh jumper pushed the lead back to eight. A 7-0 run by the Tigers in the final three minutes tied things up but Jellison's 2-for-2 trip to the line and Robinson's offensive rebound put back before the horn sent the Lady Cougars to the locker room with a 35-31 lead.
Cowley quickly erased the deficit and set the second half tone canning two treys and capitalizing on Barton's sixteenth of twenty-three turnovers on the night to storm in front 38-35. Robinson's inside bucket and a three-ball from Katrina Roenfeldt answered the call giving Barton a four point lead and an eventual 48-47 lead before the tide turned as Cowley closed the quarter outscoring the Lady Cougars 16-9 to seize a five momentum builder to the fourth.
The Tigers grew the lead to eight before Megan Jirak halted the run with her second trey of the game, but another Cowley long ball and pair of free throws quickly expanded the margin to eleven. Barton would make a few runs late to cut it to six twice, the first coming with 1:50 to play after Jirak's third trey of the game and the last coming from Unruh's lone trey with just fifty seconds to play, but Cowley was too good at the stripe putting the game away with a perfect four charity tosses for the final ten point margin.
Micaela Jellison put up her second straight sixteen point performance to lead four Lady Cougars in double-digit scoring and pulled down a team high seven rebounds. Unruh finished with twelve with Jirak behind 3-of-6 from long distance finished with eleven while Robinson added ten.
Torching the Lady Cougars for a Barton Gym record forty-seven points in the earlier meeting this season, Amy O'Neill finished with twenty-six points and dished out a game high seven assists to lead the Tigers. Bridget Mimmo contributed fifteen while Kendra Green and Corie Fischer each added ten points.