EL DORADO – The first time around, it was a buzzer-beating win for the Barton women’s basketball team. A win that, at the time, was the biggest of the then young season back in November.
This time, there would be no last-second shot. Instead, it was a 20-0 run in the third period into the fourth that proved to be the difference.
Butler is the team that had that 20-0 run on its way to a 64-46 drubbing of the Cougars in Jayhawk Conference action at the Power Plant in El Dorado.
“You have to give Butler some credit,” Barton coach Alan Clark said. “They played some great defense in the second half. They were physical with us and we were not able to respond that very well.”
In the battle for what would turn out to be for sole possession of fifth place in the 14-team conference, it was all Grizzlies in the third period.
Barton falls into a tie for sixth with Cloud County at 9-7 in the Jayhawk and 12-8 overall. Butler is 10-6 and 13-6. Butler has now won seven of its last eight games.
The Cougars played without Juliana Chagas for the second straight game and Irene Chukwudi for the sixth straight. Both are out with knee injuries. Freshman point guard Jaylin Stapleton went down late in the contest as well for Barton with an injury. Her status for Saturday will be determined later.
The game was close throughout the opening 20 minutes of play. Barton trailed by as many as five in the first period and was down 17-13 after one period of play.
The Cougars took the lead in the second period when Mallory Miller and Taylor Regan sandwiched 3-pointers around a Natasha Dolinksy jumper to key an 8-3 run and give the Cougars a 26-23 lead with 5:20 play before half. The lead would grow to its biggest at five, 28-23 after another Miller bucket with 3:52 left in the quarter.
It was part of a big first half for Miller, the last-second hero of the first game. The freshman from Goddard Eisenhower scored 17 in the opening half as the Cougars went to half on top 32-31.
Butler did not score for the first four minutes of the third quarter but the Cougars could not take advantage. During those same four minutes, Barton’s only basket was a driving layup from Fatou Ndao.
That would prove pivotal.
Butler regained the lead – its first since midway through the second quarter – with 5:07 left in the period at 38-36. Another minute later, the Grizzlies had their biggest lead at 42-36, riding a 9-0 run.
Butler wasn’t done.
The Grizzlies would score five more, extending its run to 14-0 and its lead to 47-36 2:16 left in the third. The game-changing run wasn’t done. A 3-pointer by Taylor Birch and another free in the final minute gave Butler a 51-36 lead and an 18-0 run to end the third.
Barton did not score the final 5:37 of the period. The Cougars scored just four points in that fateful third period as the Grizzlies grabbed complete control of the contest.
The run finally ended at 20-0 when Madison Dirks hit a free throw in the opening minute of the final period. By that time, it was all but over for the Cougars.
Miller would end with those same 17 points she scored in the first half to lead the Cougars. She was the only Barton player in double figures. Taylor Regan had 11 rebounds.
Barton scored just 14 points in the second half, ending with a season-low point total of 46.
Ericka Mattingly led three Grizzlies in double figures with 19. She also had 10 rebounds and five assists.
Barton will be back on the road Saturday with a trip to Liberal to take on Seward County. The Cougars shocked the Saints earlier this year with an 89-80 win over Seward back in November.
The Saints are leading the Jayhawk at 14-2 and are 18-2 overall, ranked No. 12 in the NJCAA. Seward is riding an 11-game winning streak. Seward is tied with Cowley for the Jayhawk lead with Hutchinson and Independence on their heels at 13-3.
Tip at the Green House will be 6 pm.

Butler 64, Barton 46
Barton 13 19 4 10 – 46
Butler 17 14 20 13 – 64
Barton (9-7, 12-8) 46
Stapleton 1-12 2-3 4, Regan 2-7 0-4 5, Jellison 1-7 0-0 2, Ndao 1-5 4-4 6, Miller 5-13 4-6 17, Dixon 2-2 1-5 5, Dirks 0-3 5-8 5, Dolinksy 1-2 0-0 2, White 0-2 0-0 0, Sanchez-Cirvian 0-1 0-0 0. Totals – 13-54 16-30 46.
Butler (10-6, 13-6) 64
Gooden 1-7 0-0 2, Smallwood 4-11 2-3 10, Mattingly 7-18 2-3 19, Birch 4-10 0-1 11, Callins 1-5 0-0 2, Roland 3-5 0-0 8, Sanchez 2-8 1-4 5, Easter 1-1 1-2 3, Johansen 0-0 0-0 0, Duru 0-2 1-2 1, Littlewood 0-0 0-0 0, Ransom 1-2 1-1 3. Totals –- 24-69 8-16 64.
3-pointers – Barton 4-17 (Miller 3-8, Regan 1-1, Sanchez-Cirvian 0-1, Dirks 0-3, Stapleton 0-4); Butler 8-24 (Birch 3-8, Mattingly 3-10, Roland 2-3, Smallwood 0-3).
Rebounds – Barton 35 (Regan 11), Butler 50 (Mattingly 10, Callins 10). Assists – Barton 7 (Dolinksy 3), Butler 13 (Mattingly 5). Steals – Barton 6 (Stapleton 2), Butler 9 (4 with 2). Blocks – Barton 3 (3 with 1), Butler 6 (Mattingly 2).
Turnovers – Barton 16, Butler 14. Fouled Out – Dolinksy, Jellison, Barton. 

JAYHAWK CONFERENCE WOMEN
Seward County 14-2 18-2
Cowley 14-2 18-2
Hutchinson 13-3 17-3
Independence 13-3 15-4
Butler 10-6 13-6
Cloud County 9-7 12-7
Barton 9-7 12-8
Garden City 8-8 11-9
Coffeyville 8-8 10-10
Dodge City 4-12 7-12
Neosho Co. 3-13 6-14
Allen Co. 4-12 6-14
Colby 2-14 4-16
Pratt 1-15 2-17

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
Butler 64, Barton County 46
Dodge City 42, Coffeyville 41
Seward 69, Cloud 52
Cowley 68, Garden City 59
Hutchinson 71, Pratt 47
Independence 84 Neosho 44

Allen 60, Colby 50