INDEPENDENCE, Kan. (BartonSports.com) – A 15-5 third quarter start provided the difference maker Saturday evening on the road at the ICC Fieldhouse as the Barton Community College women’s basketball team notched a 64-59 victory over Independence Community College.
Leading by two points at the halftime break, the Cougars initially built up an eight point lead out of the locker rooms behind a 6-0 run over the opening 1:10 but a 5-0 Pirates response brought the margin to within three before a pair of Regina Donanu free throw tosses and one of two Alaina Eck third frame arch busters stretched the advantage to double-digits 43-33 a minute ensuing behind a 7-0 stretch at the midway point.
The double-digit lead grew to as large as 16 following Keyona Hall‘s bucket with 5:33 remaining in the fourth quarter but a trio of Independence six made three pointers on the afternoon kept the door open trimming the deficit to five before Hall’s perfect 2-of-2 trip at the line with 30-seconds remaining all but sealing any Pirates late comeback bid.
Locking up a first round home playoff game next Saturday, Barton improves to 11-12 in league play and 15-14 on the season while Independence falls to 1-22 in conference play and 2-27 overall.
Barton will close out the regular season Wednesday evening with another trip to southeast Kansas for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off at No. 18 Coffeyville Community College who was dealt a 74-50 loss Saturday at No. 7 Dodge City Community College. The Cougars will then open postseason play next Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off in the opening round of the Region 6 Championship.
Eck led nine Barton players in scoring with a new career high 23 points. The freshman scored 14 of her team high 23 points in third quarter action finishing 3-of-5 from long distance and perfect 2-of-2 at the free throw line with three rebounds.
Held to a career low two points in Wednesday evening’s win over Colby, Vivian Onugha rebounded with her 24th double-double of the season pouring in 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field with 16 rebounds to help lead Barton to a plus-10 advantage on the glass while dishing out six assists sharing game high honors with Donau’s six distributions.
Finishing just shy of her first collegiate double-double was Hall adding eight points and eight rebounds
Five Pirates contributed to five or more pore points, three reaching double-figures led by Asmin Tanhan’s game high 24 points on 5-of-10 shooting from long distance adding seven rebounds and three assists. Allison Reese added a 14 point and five rebound effort while Lauryn Gentle turned in a 10 point and 10 rebound double-double performance.
Onugha’s program record book impacts:
1st in Career Rebounds (788)
1st in Season Offensive Rebounds (182)
1st in Season Rebounds (474)
2nd in Season Defensive Rebounds (292) – surpassed Inga Muciniece’s 281 (2006-08), and 36 behind Jenny Nkem Womsi’s 328 (2022-23)
8th in Career Free Throw Attempts (291) – 3 from Taylor Regan’s 294 (2017-19)
T-8th in Season Free Throw Attempts (174) – Tied with Netayna Jackson’s 174 (2010-11), 3 from Ashton Bruner’s 177 (2013-14)
