The Barton Community College women's basketball team recovered from a bad start Saturday evening at the Barton Gym in clawing back to knock off 21st ranked Hutchinson Community College 58-54.
The Blue Dragons scored the contest's first ten points before the Cougars clawed back, cutting the deficit to three by halftime, outscoring Hutchinson by ten in the third quarter in holding on down the stretch for Barton's fourth straight win in the series.
The victory also snaps a four game losing streak for Barton, improving to 1-2 in conference play and 4-5 overall. Hutchinson drops to 2-2 in league and 8-2 on the year.
Barton will next head to nationally receiving votes Independence Community College on Wednesday for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off before a pair of home games beginning with next Saturday's 2:00 p.m. hosting of Coffeyville Community College.
RECAP
Dayjsha Fanning's 1-of-2 trip to the line at the 5:32 mark put a halt to Hutchinson 10-0 start to the game. Another Fanning basket, a pair of Lili Shubert free throws, and a Morgan Meyers right wing trey powered the Cougars' 8-0 run cutting the margin to two. Hutchinson weathered the storm in closing the quarter on a 5-1 stretch to lead by six.
Scoring the first five points of the second frame closing to within one, Barton strung another four straight to finally catch the Blue Dragons at 21 by the 5:51 mark. Brennan Kirchhoff buried a pair of triples, the second one again bringing Barton to within one at 18-17. Hutchinson grabbed the next trio of points but the offensive rebound put-back by Brennan Kirchhoff followed ninety seconds later by a Mikaela Hall jumper in the lane put the Cougars in front for the first time with 2:50 remaining in the half. Late fouls and coming up empty on the offensive end, Barton was unable to build on the lead as Hutchinson sank 4-of-6 free throws in the remaining two minutes to lead 28-25 at the break.
Shubert canning her lone shot behind the arc followed with a driving shot through the lane put Barton back in front after the first three minutes of the quarter. Four straight by the Blue Dragons flipped the script, and again led by two at 34-32 before Barton controlled the rest of the quarter. Behind a strong defensive effort, the Cougars held Hutchinson in check in the final five minutes in outscoring the visitors 12-3 for a 44-37 lead to the fourth. Highlights offensively in the stretch were a Meyers three-pointer and Fanning's find to a cutting Shubert in winning the quarter by ten points.
Foul problems began to plaque the Cougars as Hutchinson began to assert themselves getting to the paint. Two quick fouls ended Meyer's eight point night with 7:52 remaining and Barton up five, Kirchhoff joined her on the bench with 5:41 remaining with Barton clinging to a 48-47 lead with 5:41 remaining. Grabbing an offensive rebound resulting in a pair of charity tosses, Fanning pushed the lead back to three only to have Hutchinson's Mya Williams power in for an And-1 tying it up with 4:13 left. Barton strung the next five points getting another pair of Fanning free throws before Acorionna Lard found Hall for a transition layup for a 55-50 lead with 2:29 left.
Just sixteen seconds later Shubert became the third Cougar to foul out, resulting in a pair of Hutchinson free throws. Tough defensive effort by both teams caused missed offensive opportunities until Mele Kailahi's two foul shot conversions shrunk Barton's margin back to one at 55-54 with 43 seconds to play.
The Cougars worked the shot clock down to the final seconds before Lard's drive to the hole found the net with sixteen seconds on the clock. The Blue Dragons tying attempt with seven seconds missed its mark, sending Lard to the line for two shots from the stripe. Rimming out the first attempt, the freshman's second toss was pure in sealing the victory.
STATS
The Cougars' offense struggled again on just 34.7% shooting from the field but sank a season high 82.6% (19-23) from the free throw line while defensively helping Hutchinson shoot just 31.5% from the field.
Kirchhoff led a balanced Cougar team with 12 points, adding in five rebounds, and knocked down both of her triples in first half keeping Barton in the game. Shubert added a career high 11 points and three assists, Meyers and Fanning added eight each, and Jenny Nkem Womsi and Hall contributing six points each. Fanning grabbed a team high 7 rebounds helping Barton to a plus 5 edge on the glass.
Williams led all players with 21 points with Kailahi contributing 14 points while tying Tor'e Alford for Blue Dragon team high honors with 7 rebounds each.