It wasn't pretty nor typical of the Barton Community College women Wednesday night at the Barton Gym but it was enough to pick up a victory as the Lady Cougars pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 81-67 win over Allen County Community College. Barton improves to 4-2 in Jayhawk play and 7-3 overall while the Red Devils drop to 1-5 and 3-7 on the year. The Lady Cougars take just their third road trip of the year on Saturday in traveling to conference unbeaten Independence Community College (6-0, 8-1) in a 4:00 p.m. tip-off.
The Lady Cougars lead by just five at the halftime break but the Red Devils' 7-2 spurt to open the third tied the game for the one and only time. Beginning with a Taylor Regan three-point play and ending with a Regan three-point shot, Barton owned the next two minutes with a 12-2 stretch to gain separation leading to an eleven point margin headed to the final frame.
Allen County battled back through the first four minutes of the final quarter in cutting the deficit to just seven with 5:41 to play. Rebounding a Jaylin Stapleton missed shot, Micaela Jellison hauled down one of her six offensive boards on the night before being sent to the line draining a pair of charity tosses. The spark led to an 11-0 run over the next two minutes stretching the lead out to eighteen, growing to as much as twenty-two with 1:28 remaining before Allen County closed with a 12-4 stretch.
Jellison had a monster night for the Lady Cougars as the Protection, Kansas, native scored a season high nineteen points while also hauling down a career high sixteen rebounds for her first double-double of the year and fourth collegiately. Also having a stat stuffing night was the continued all-around play of Regan. The Albert, Kansas, freshman again flirted with not just her first collegiate double-double but a triple double effort in hauling down seven rebounds to go along with a career high nineteen points and eight assists. Regan also drained a perfect two three-point attempts and was near perfect on 9-of-10 tosses from the charity stripe, in addition to, leading the team with four steals. Mallory Miller knocked down just two long range shots but showed off her game inside the arc in scoring sixteen points while Stapleton reached double figures for the sixth straight game by adding eleven points.
Tamera Shaver led three Red Devils in the double digit scoring column with sixteen points. Kamri Summons hauled down four of her team leading six rebounds on the offensive glass towards a fourteen point night while Destiny Pittman added eleven in coming off the bench.
Barton's next opponent is sitting atop the conference standings with six straight wins, most recently earning a 55-52 victory at Butler Community College. The Lady Pirates erased a six-point first quarter deficit limiting the Lady Grizzlies to just five second frame points in holding on for the final three point victory.
Other Game Notes:
- Barton has now won five straight in the series versus Allen County including the last eleven at the Barton Gym
- Barton now leads the overall series 26-3 and 15-1 at the Barton Gym