Fourth quarter surge lifts Barton women at Independence #GoBarton

The Barton Community College women's basketball team leaned on its interior presence and late composure Wednesday evening, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 59-51 road victory over Independence Community College at the ICC Fieldhouse.

The eighth straight win in the series moves the Cougars to 4-6 in conference play and 6-10 overall, while the Pirates fall to 1-8 in league play and 4-11 on the season. Barton will close out the two-game road trip Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. tip at Seward County Community College inside the Greenhouse.

The Cougars built brief leads of 4-0 and 8-6 in the opening quarter before Independence responded with a 9-0 run out of the media timeout to grab a 15-8 advantage. Barton closed the quarter with a 4-0 response behind baskets from Mary Akinde and Mersadie Spray, cutting the margin to 15-11 after the opening stanza.

Independence scored the opening basket of the second quarter before the Cougars answered with an 8-0 run to move back in front 19-17, sparked by a finish from Alaina Eck, four points from Akinde, and a pair of free throws from Kodi Greer. Regina Donanu later added a personal 4-0 burst just ahead of the two-minute mark to give Barton its largest lead of the half at five. The Pirates closed the frame on a 7-2 run, however, sending the teams into the locker room tied at 27.

Donanu opened the third quarter at the free-throw line, but Barton went cold from the floor, missing its first nine shots as Independence built its largest lead at 38-29 heading into the under-five media timeout.  The Cougars regrouped out of the break, using free throws from Akinde and Donanu along with Bryndal Moody's three-pointer to spark an 8-0 run that pulled Barton within two. The Pirates briefly answered at the line, but Barton closed the quarter on a 13-2 run, scoring the final six points to take a 42-40 lead into the fourth, highlighted by Akinde's late and-one.

Barton imposed its will early in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of the period's first 18 points while attacking the paint. Akinde opened the frame with four straight points and scored nine of Barton's 10 points going back to the final 2:05 of the third quarter. Late baskets from Akinde and Spary in the final 1:04 gave Barton a pair of 11-point cushions to close out the road victory.

The Cougars finished the night shooting 37.1-percent from the floor, highlighted by a 53.3 percent clip in the fourth stanza, while holding the Pirates to 27.0 percent shooting. Barton controlled the interior throughout, outscoring Independence 38-16 in the paint and finishing with a slight plus-4 rebounding edge.

Akinde delivered a career performance, recording her fourth double-double of the season with game highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds, seven coming on the offensive end, while scoring eight of her points in the fourth quarter.

Eck followed with 11 points and six rebounds, while Donanu chipped in 10 points and three assists off the bench, helping the Cougars to a plus-6 edge in bench scoring.

Independence was led by Danaiya Stillwell-Smith with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Jade Oliney added 11 points, four assists and three rebounds.