It took the Barton women’s basketball a team a little while to get going. But once the Cougars got things rolling, they did stop.
Barton didn’t take a lead until the midway mark of the first quarter but ended up cruising to the easy win over Neosho in Jayhawk Conference play at the Barton Gym Saturday night.
Barton defeated Neohso, 106-68. The 106 points was a season-high for the Cougars as was the 38-point margin of victory.
The Cougars are now 8-5 at the midway point of the Jayhawk Conference and 11-6 overall. Neosho falls to 3-10 and 6-11.
That 8-5 conference mark has Barton in the top half of the Jayhawk – clogged up with a mess of teams tied for fifth. Cloud County, Butler and Barton are all 8-5. Cowley, Hutchinson, and Seward continue to lead the Jayhawk at 11-2 while Independence is 10-3.
The Cougars are now 21-0 all-time against Neohso.
Barton used a 6-0 run to take a 10-7 lead midway through the opening quarter – the first lead of the game for the Cougars. But from there, it was all Barton.
Barton trailed 5-0 out of the gates and didn’t lead until Jaylin Stapleton’s jumper with 5:03 left in the opening quarter gave the Cougars an 8-7 lead.
The Cougars later added a 7-0 run later and after the first 10 minutes of play, Barton led 21-15.
It only got worse for the visiting Panthers as the Cougars took away any doubt as to the outcome during the second period.
Barton’s lead reached double figures on a Fatou Ndao bucket one minute into the second period for a 25-15 lead. That was the beginning of a 12-2 run to start the quarter to gave Barton a 33-17 lead with 5:40 to play in the half.
The lead would not get under 10 points the rest of the way.
By half, the Cougars were in complete control, leading 51-29.
The onslaught continued in the second half. The lead hit the 30-point mark, 62-32, midway through the third on a layup from Ndao. After three, Barton led 75-42.
The margin topped the 40-point mark when Jeanna Dixon hit a trey for a 96-55 lead with 4:10 to play. Barton surpassed the 100-point plateau a couple minutes later when Madison Dirks hit a couple free throws for a 100-59 lead.
Ndao had a career night. The 6-2 freshman from Senegal put up career high numbers in both points and rebounds. She paced Barton with 24 points and 15 rebounds.
She was joined in double figures by five more Cougars. Stapleton and Micaela Jellison both added 14. Juliana Chagas and Mallory Miller each scored 13 and Taylor Regan finished with 10. Chagas led Barton with eight assists and four steals.
Barton played without 6-2 freshman Irene Chukwudi for the third straight game. Chukwudi is suffering from a knee injury but the Cougars hope to have her back soon – perhaps as soon as the next game.
The Cougars will start their second trip through the Jayhawk Conference Wednesday with another long midweek road trip. Barton will head to Colby to take on the Trojans. Colby is 2-11 in the Jayhawk and 4-13 overall. Tip at the Community Building will be 6 pm.

Barton 106, Neosho 68
Neosho 15 14 13 26 – 68
Barton 21 30 24 31 – 106
Neosho (3-10, 6-11) 68
Smith 2-10 0-0 5, Lyles 2-10 1-1 6, Casher 1-6 1-2 3, Augstin 4-12 0-1 10, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Foster 2-4 0-0 4, Plank 1-2 0-0 3, McCall 2-4 0-0 4, Hawkins 3-12 2-2 11, Wattman 0-1 2-2 2, Boyd 5-10 2-2 13, Sibert 0-1 0-0 0, Hartford 1-4 3-6 5. Totals – 23-78 11-16 68.
Barton (8-5, 11-6) 106
Chagas 5-9 2-2 13, Stapleton 4-7 6-6 14, Regan 2-5 6-9 10, Jellison 5-9 4-4 14, Ndao 12-17 0-0 14, Dixon 2-6 2-2 7, White 0-0 0-0 0, Dirks 1-1 4-4 7, Dolinsky 2-3 0-0 4, Cirvian 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 3-11 5-6 13. Totals – 36-68 29-33 106.
3-pointers – Neosho 11-32 (Hawkins 3-8, Foster 2-3, Augustin 2-4, Plank 1-2, Boyd 1-2, Smith 1-4, Lyles 1-7); Barton 5-12 (Miller 2-4, Chagas 1-1, Dirks 1-1, Dixon 1-3, Stapleton 0-1, Regan 0-1, Jellison 0-1).
Rebounds – Neosho 37 (Casher 7); Barton 53 (Ndao 15). Assists – Neosho 9 (Smith 5); Barton 22 (Chagas 8). Steals – Neosho 5 (Casher 2, Lyles 2); Barton 11 (Chagas 4). Blocks – Neosho 1 (Hartford); Barton 5 (Jellison 2).
Turnovers – Neosho 20, Barton 14. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – None.