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Barton women lose to No. 22 Cowley
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Womens Barton Community College Cougar basketball player Jaylin Stapleton drives down the court against the Cowley County Community College Tigers Wednesday night at Barton. - photo by DALE HOGG Great Bend Tribune

Coach Alan Clark and the Barton women’s basketball team know the recipe for an upset. After all, the Cougars knocked off No. 8 Seward County at the Barton Gym back in November.
So when No. 22 Cowley made a visit Wednesday night, the Cougars were ready.
The pieces were in place. Defensively, Taylor Regan was chasing around the nation’s leading scorer, Kaitlyn Potter, as Barton implemented a box-and-one approach.
On the offensive end, shots were falling. Both 2-pointers and 3-pointers. The ball was moving from side-to-side. Inside and out against the 2-3 Cowley zone. In addition, the Cougars were limiting turnovers.
But that recipe that worked so good the first half, didn’t work so well in the second half as Cowley rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to earn a 70-64 Jayhawk Conference win.
“We played really good in that first half,” Coach Clark said. “In the second half, we just couldn’t keep them off the boards when we needed it. We played hard. It was a tough loss to take.”
The loss dropped Barton to the .500 mark in the conference at 9-9. Barton is 12-10 overall after dropping its fourth straight. The Cougars are now eighth in the Jayhawk.
Cowley remained in the thick of the Jayhawk race, at 15-3 in the conference and 19-3 overall. The Tigers are in a tie for second with Hutchinson. Seward, 16-2, is leading the way.
The Cougars used that recipe for an upset from the beginning quite well. Barton went on an early 9-0 run, capped by a Mallory Miller 3-pointer from the right corner with 5:35 left in the opening quarter for an 11-5 lead.
When Madison Dirks knocked down a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, the Cougars had a 22-18 lead after one. Barton hit 9-of-15 field goals and turned the ball over just twice.
The second quarter was much of the same. A Jaylin Stapleton deep 3 gave Barton a 26-18 lead three minutes in. Back-to-back baskets by Regan the next two possessions put the Cougars on a 14-0 run and a gave them a 30-18 lead.
Fatou Ndao scored with 1.4 seconds left in the half and Barton went to intermission with a 39-28 lead.
It was a half that saw Barton 15-of-30, make 5-of-9 3’s and turn the ball over just five times. Potter had only one shot – on a steal and layup – as Regan shut down the 23-point scorer.
Cowley came out and scored the first five points on the third quarter as Cowley abandoned the 2-3 zone for man-to-man. That defensive changed slowed the Barton offensively flow.
Barton scored just 10 points in the third quarter as Cowley, with other players stepping up – mainly Julia Nygard – overtook Barton, 52-49.
Barton continued to struggle offensively to start the final quarter as the lead grew to 56-49 with 6:45 to play.
The Cougars stayed within striking distance of the Tigers, down just 60-57 with four minutes left. Stapleton kept the Cougars hopes alive with a tough layup with 30 seconds to play, cutting it to three again at 64-61.
But Cowley hit the needed free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
Stapleton led Barton with 18 points followed by Regan with 15. Regan added 10 rebounds for the fourth double-double for the freshman from Otis-Bison. Stapleton added seven assists.
Regan did her job on Potter as well, holding her to a season-low two points.
“Taylor did a great job,” Coach Clark said of Regan’s box-and-one effort. “But other kids helped as well off screens and switches.”
But Nygard made up for it. She led all scorers with 24 points as the 28 percent 3-point shooter made 6-of-11 treys. Kedranea Addison added 12 and Brittany Hall 10.
The Cougars will head to southeast Kansas Saturday to take on Allen County in an attempt to break that 4-game skid. Barton defeated the Red Devils, 81-67, back in November at the Barton Gym. Tip is an early one, starting at 2 pm. Allen is 4-14 in the Jayhawk.
“We need a win right now for some confidence,” Coach Clark said. “We need to put a stop to this losing streak.”
Barton hopes to get Irene Chukwudi back for the Allen game. The 6-2 freshman has missed the last seven games with a knee injury.

No. 22 Cowley 70, Barton 64
Cowley 18 10 24 18 – 70
Barton 22 17 10 15 – 64
Cowley (14-3, 18-3) -- Hall 2-5 6-7 10, Potter 1-6 0-0 2, Nygard 7-15 4-4 24, Schwab 2-6 0-0 4, Silva 4-11 1-1 9, Addison 4-10 4-8 12, Jallow 2-6 2-2 7, Mathis 1-6 0-0 2, Hrencher 0-0 0-0 0, Campbell 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 23-67 17-24 70.
Barton (9-8, 12-9) -- Stapleton 5-13 7-9 18, Regan 5-9 5-6 15, Jellison 2-3 0-0 4, Dolinsky 3-9 0-0 7, Miller 2-7 0-0 6, Dixon 1-4 4-6 6, Ndao 2-7 1-3 5, Dirks 1-2 0-0 3. Totals – 21-54 17-24 64.
3-pointers – Cowley 7-23 (Nygard 6-11, Jallow 1-4, Hall 0-1, Addison 0-1, Potter 0-3, Mathis 0-3); Barton 5-11 (Miller 2-3, Stapleton 1-2, Dolinsky 1-2, Dirks 1-2, Regan 0-1, Dixon 0-1).
Rebounds–CC 45 (Silva 9); Barton 37 (Regan 10). Assists–Cowley 10 (Hall 5); Barton 13 (Stapleton 7). Steals–CC 4 (Potter 2); Barton 5 (5 with 1). Blocks-CC 5 (Silva 3); Barton 3 (Jellison 2).
Turnovers–CC 9, Barton 12. Fouled Out – Silva, Cowley; Jellison, Barton. 

JAYHAWK WOMEN

Seward County 16-2 20-2

Cowley 15-3 19-3

Hutchinson 15-3 19-3

Independence 14-4 16-5

Butler 12-6 15-6

Cloud County 10-8 13-8

Garden City 10-8 13-9

Barton 9-9 12-10

Coffeyville 9-9 11-11

Dodge City 6-12 9-12

Allen County 4-14 6-16

Neosho County 3-15 6-16

Colby 2-16 4-18

Pratt 1-17 2-19

WEDNESDAY

Butler 72, Allen 43

Coffeyville 61, Cloud 55

Cowley 70, Barton 64

Dodge City 83, Colby 53

Garden City 57, Indy 43 

Hutchinson 91, Neosho 50

Seward 97, Pratt 48