First half lead not enough as Barton women fall to 14th ranked Butler #GoBarton
Strong start not enough as Cougars bid for upset falls short against 14th ranked Grizzlies
In a tale of two halves, the Barton Community College women's basketball team's halftime advantage was not enough as Butler Community College flexed on its national No. 14 ranking to pull away late for a 75-65 victory Saturday evening at Fleske Fieldhouse.
The loss drops Barton to 3-6 in conference play and 5-10 on the year while Butler's fourth straight victory improves to 7-1 in the Jayhawk and 13-1 overall.
Barton's next pair of contests come on the road, the first coming Wednesday in a 5:30 p.m. tip at Independence Community College before traveling to Liberal on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. tip at Seward County Community College. The Cougars' next home game comes Saturday, January 17, hosting Cowley College on Hall of Fame Induction Day.
Barton led 14-12 after the first period, six points coming from a pair of Alaina Eck three-pointers. Regina Donanu helped extend the lead in the second frame, scoring twelve points helping the Cougars take the lead into double digits with Mersadie Spray's layup pushing it to an eleven point margin with 1:36 left in the half.
Coming out of the locker room, Butler took their energy to a different level, regaining the lead at 37-36 by the 5:32 mark. Barton regrouped behind Crystal Long and Eck baskets to flip the lead, only to have the Grizzlies rattle off the next nine points on the way to a 51-46 advantage to the fourth quarter.
The deficit grew to eight until consecutive Spray and Mary Akinde And-1 conversions surged Barton back, with Spray later tacking on five straight giving Barton a 57-56 edge with 6:36 left.
Butler responded in a game-deciding, 11-0 run over the next three minutes before Spray's second trey halted the stretch. Bryndal Moody's triple answered Butler's three straight, but it would be as close as the Cougars would be for the final 2:02 in suffering its fifth consecutive loss of the series.
Spray's career high 19-point outing led all players with Donanu contributing 17 points as Eck finished with 11 points.
All five Grizzly starters reached double-figure scoring, Mya Mayberry leading with 17 points with Ashley Singhateh adding 14 points. Aliyah Green scored 13, Keegan Yarick added 12 points, and Kenzie Galliart chipping in 10 points.