Cold shooting stretches sink Barton Women in 57-51 home setback to Colby #GoBarton

The Barton Community College women's basketball team couldn't overcome two prolonged cold spells Tuesday evening at Fleske Fieldhouse, falling 57–51 to Colby Community College in Jayhawk Conference action.

Barton controlled early stretches and rallied from a nine-point third-quarter deficit to pull even late, but Colby answered with key perimeter shots and steady free-throw shooting to escape Great Bend with the win and snap a 10-game losing streak to the Cougars.

The setback drops Barton to 1-2 in conference and 3-6 on the season, while Colby improves to 2-1 and 5-4 overall.

Following a brief holiday away from the grind, Barton begins preparation for Saturday 2:00 p.m. contest at 25th-ranked Coffeyville Community College.

Reigning conference player of the week Regina Donanu led the Cougars with a hard-earned 14 points, while Mary Akinde posted her first collegiate double-double behind a 13-point, 11-rebound with two blocks performance. Christal Long added 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with seven rebounds, with Alaina Eck's eight points and five from Kodi Greer rounding out Barton's scoring.

Barton held a 40–35 rebounding advantage, including 15 offensive boards, but finished just 18-for-65 from the field (27.7%), 4-for-22 from beyond the arc (18.2%), and shot under 23% percent in two of the four quarters. The Cougars went 1-for-14 in the second and 4-for-18 in the fourth, scoring a combined 20 points in those periods.

Colby countered with a steadier 38.3% overall, 6-for-16 from three, and sank 15-17 (88.2%) from the charity stripe.

Dessirae Ulmer led the Trojans with 14 points and nine boards, with Jera Kruleski also adding 14 points with six rebounds. Olivia Hultgren added 11 points and five assists to help lead an 18-0 advantage in bench scoring.

Barton opened with balanced scoring from its starting group to take a 16–14 edge after 10 minutes, but momentum evaporated in the second frame as the Cougars endured a decisive 1-for-14 shooting drought. Free throws kept Barton in reach but Colby used an 18–10 period to grab a 32–26 halftime lead.

The Cougars responded with their best offensive stretch in the third quarter. Behind Akinde's perfect 3-for-3 stanza and timely baskets from Donanu and Eck, Barton shot 40% in the period and trimmed the deficit to 43–41 heading into the fourth.

Long fueled a further push, converting a three-point play and finishing in transition as Barton tied the contest at 48–48 with 3:54 remaining.

However, the final minutes mirrored the earlier cold spell. The Cougars shot just 4-for-18 in the fourth quarter, including 1-for-9 from deep, while Colby's pull-away stretch came from Kruleski's go-ahead layup and Hultgren's dagger top-of-the-key, banked in triple with 42 seconds left to seal their first win against Barton since 2020.