Concluding a brutal five-game nine-day stretch with consecutive games against nationally ranked teams, the Barton Community College women’s basketball team just simply couldn’t match up with No. 2 Hutchinson Community College falling Wednesday night at the Barton Gym 73-45. The fourth straight conference loss drops Barton to 1-4 and 11-6 overall while Hutchinson improves to 4-0 and 18-0. The Lady Cougars will get a much needed rest until a January 21 trip to Colby, Kansas, for a 6:00 p.m. conference matchup at the Community Building against Colby Community College.
Hutchinson scored the first five before a Dominique Baker runner in the paint got Barton on the scoreboard. Seven straight by the Lady Dragons expanded the lead until Ciera Lampe‘s first of three treys in the game keyed a 9-0 spurt. Buckets in the paint by Phikala Anthony and Bethany Bowman capped by a steal and transition bucket drew the Lady Cougars to within 12-11 at the 12:11 mark. Hutchinson responded with the next ten points in the following five minutes then blew the game open with another 8-0 run to lead at the break by twenty-four.
The Lady Dragons expanded the lead out to thirty-two in the opening six minutes of the second half before an 8-0 run brought Barton back to within twenty-four with twelve minutes to play. In the stretch Barton got a pair of Julia Dixon free throws, a Lampe trey, and three points by Indiah Cauley. Barton again brought the deficit back to twenty-four on two Cauley charity throws a minute later but the Lady Dragons would never relinquish the rest of the way in cruising to the win.
Cauley was the lone Lady Cougar to reach double figures finishing with thirteen points of 3-of-8 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line while also leading the team with three steals. Anthony, the team’s leading scorer on the season, was held to seven points but led the Lady Cougars in rebounds with five. Lampe’s 3-of-6 performance from behind the arc netted nine points while Baker dropped in seven while leading the team with two assists.
Kalani Purcell lead all scorers with sixteen to go along with a team high nine rebounds and seven steals. Cynthia Petke, who tied Purcell’s team lead with nine rebounds, added sixteen points while Clemence LeFebvre contributed thirteen.
