Playoff victories rarely come easy as the case Wednesday night at the Barton Gym as the Barton Community College women's basketball team pulled away late to earn a hard fought 80-71 win over Coffeyville Community College in the Region VI Quarterfinals.
The 3rd seeded Cougars improve to 19-5 on the year, advancing to their third straight semifinals while Coffeyville's season comes to a close at 15-7.
Next up is a trip to Friends University in Wichita for a 6:00 p.m. Friday tip against 9th ranked Butler Community College. The Grizzlies, who defeated the Cougars in last year's championship game, are seeded second after winning the Jayhawk East and bring a 20-2 record on the year into the contest. The winner will then play the victor of top seeded and 20th ranked Hutchinson versus 4th seeded Independence in the 6:00 p.m. Saturday championship game.
Ticket availability is limited, with fans available to purchase "Session 2" tickets online at www.kjccc.org/tickets beginning at 8:00 a.m. Thursday. Cougar fans unable to attend may catch the game locally on 104.3FM or online at www.GreatBendPost.com.
Three Cougars closed out their Barton Gym career with double-digit performances led by the near double-double from Queen Ulabo. Voted the conference player of the week for her performances last week, Ulabo scored 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor with seven of her team leading nine rebounds coming off the offensive glass.
Despite an off-night shooting from the field, Tiffany Dortland added 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in staying on the court for the full forty minutes.
Freshman Lyndi Rumford gave the Cougars a career high 34 minutes on the floor with a solid game of 11 points and 6 rebounds. Vanessa Oduah posted 10 points in her final home contest while adding a team high 6 assists in tying Dortland for the team lead in steals with two.
The Red Ravens' Faith Simpson gave the Cougars all they could handle, posting a double-double 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and grabbing seven of her 11 rebounds on the offensive end of the court and added a team leading three steals. Amiya Josey buried 4-of-9 beyond the arc for 18 points with four assists as Paige Scott added three more triples in scoring 11 points and dishing out three assists.
RECAP
Barton led by just one after the first ten minutes thanks to a 7-0 spurt to close out the quarter including consecutive treys from Rumford and Gabby Flute Player.
The Cougars stretched the lead out to seven in the first four minutes of the second frame before Coffeyville chipped away at the deficit through the next four minutes getting a Joanna Munroe trey with 31 seconds making it a one point game. A 1-of-2 trip to the line by Oduah with five seconds gave Barton a 39-37 edge to the locker room.
Coffeyville took a one point lead at 5:01 in the quarter on a Scott triple with Ulabo's converting of the And-1 putting Barton back in front for good a minute later. The score was tied three more times in the quarter before Ulabo's inside bucket gave Barton a 60-58 advantage to the final quarter.
Despite making just 3-of-6 free throws in the first three minutes, Barton was able to increase the lead to six, keeping Coffeyville at a two-possession arms length the rest of the way. Leading by five with 1:31 to play, Rumford's alert backside rebound off of Dortland's missed shot with a minute to play was pivotal at the point helping seal the contest as Oduah and Dortland connected on 4-of-4 free throw shooting down the stretch.