The 25th ranked Barton Community College women's basketball team opened up the season Friday in Hutchinson with a 67-55 victory over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in the first game of the BSN Sports Tipoff Classic.

Tied at fourteen after the opening frame, Barton outscored the Norseman by six in the second quarter before adding another six-pack to its advantage after halftime in picking up its second straight win over NEO at the Sports Arena.

The Cougars return to Hutchinson for day two action versus Eastern Oklahoma State College in another 1:00 p.m. tipoff as the Mountaineers are coming off an 87-56 loss to host Hutchinson Community College. Live stream audio and video coverage links can be found at www.BartonSports.com.

Grace John's career high night for her first collegiate double-double led three Cougars reaching double-figures with an 18 point and 11 rebound performance while also adding 5 assists and 2 steals in twenty-nine minutes of court time.

Fellow sophomore Tatum Boettjer also posted a career point total draining two beyond the arc and sinking a perfect six tosses from the stripe to finish with 16 points.

Making their Cougar debut, Vera Ojenuwa recorded a double-double 12 point and 11 rebound effort in twenty-five minutes with Macie Smith's nine minutes off the bench producing 9 points including her first collegiate three-pointer.

Barton shot just 36.7% on the afternoon, 4-of-16 from deep, aided by a solid 86% from the stripe at 19-of-22.

NEO connected on ten made threes for a 34.5% but added just nine additional field goals for a 27.9% overall percentage while also going just 7-of-14 from the free throw line.