The Barton Community College women's basketball team had its four game win streak snapped with an 84-68 loss Saturday to Iowa Western Community College in the Polo Bar & Grill/Blue Dragon Holiday Classic held at the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
The 1-1 weekend for each team moves Barton's mark at 10-3 overall while the Reivers leave Hutchinson at 9-7 on the year. The Cougars return to conference action on Saturday, January 5, hosting 10th ranked Butler Community College (13-1, 4-1) in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off at the Barton Gym.
Tied at twelve following Kolby Davis' offensive rebound put-back, Iowa Western surged ahead with an 8-0 spurt with two of their twelve three-point made buckets in the contest. A 28% shooting team from behind the arc on the season, the Reivers lit up the outside at a 57% clip to outscore the Cougars by eighteen from long range.
Barton closed the gap to four but a three-pointer on the other side of the quarter break capped a 5-0 spurt increasing the margin to nine. A Richelle Turney three-ball answer sliced it back to six but that would be the closest Barton would come as the Reivers knocked down five more treys to lead 49-30 at the halftime break.
The Cougars made runs in the second half, the first coming out of the locker room with six straight and midway thru the frame with another six point spurt to cut the margin to eleven. Iowa Western's Aimee Brett quickly responded on the next trip burying the third of her six triples to spur a seven straight stretch.
Conner Keith and Turney gave Barton some momentum closing out the third going back-to-back from three-point land with Turney opening up the final frame with a bucket closing the deficit to just ten points. Four straight by the Reivers was answered by Keith's second long ball but the game was all but over at that point with the tenth Iowa Western trey capping five straight to push the margin back out to fifteen with seven minutes to play. Davis and Jaylin Stapleton consecutive buckets with three minutes left gave Barton some late hope looking up at a twelve point deficit but the Reivers held off the charge for the eighteen point win.
Stapleton's thirteen points led Barton with Turney the only other Cougar to reach double-digits in scoring ten points. Irene Chukwudi hauled down a team high nine rebounds including four on the offensive glass with Stapleton dishing out five assists to give the sophomore from Meade eleven dimes in the two days.
Kiara Dalmann led all players with a twenty-two point afternoon, scoring nineteen in first half play alone, giving Iowa Western the big cushion into the halftime break. Dalmann also helped give Iowa Western a nine point scoring edge at the charity stripe in sinking 8-of-9, to go along with eleven rebounds to post one of the two double-double Reiver performances on the day in being joined by Aubriana Noti's fifteen point and fourteen rebound effort. Brett's six treys accounted for eighteen points with De'Ayra Davis' three treys going towards a fifteen point game. Sommer Blakemore flirted in becoming the third double-double player in scoring eight points to go along with eight assists.