BY MIKE MARZOLF
Special to the Tribune
EL DORADO – Time and again, Butler looked to be on the cusp of pulling away from the Barton women’s basketball Saturday afternoon for an easy Jayhawk Conference win.
But, time and again, the Cougars would not go away.
That is until one final push by Butler early in the fourth quarter proved to be a back-breaker for the Cougars.
Butler’s run in the final period propelled the Grizzlies to a 79-71 conference win. It was the seventh straight loss for the Cougars at the Power Plant.
Barton (6-8, 2-3 Jayhawk) drops below .500. Butler (11-5, 4-2) is tied for first place in the East.
The chasing of the Grizzlies started from the onset as Barton fell behind 6-0 right out of the gates before Barton tied it at 8-all on a Tiffany Dortland 3-pointer.
Butler scored 10 straight and led 18-10 after one. Barton battled back once again, this time on a 12-2 run to make it a 22-all game early in the second after a Richelle Turney trey.
Barton would fall behind by nine in the second then cut the lead to 33-30 on another Turney 3 late in the period before trailing 37-30 at intermission.
The third period was similar. Butler took its biggest lead at the time, 41-30, just more than one minute into the third period.
But, once again, Barton battled back. The Cougars got the lead down to 51-48 on a Bryn Willt 3-pointer with three minutes left in the third. The Cougars had a chance to tie but Butler pulled out to a 59-51 lead after three.
After getting that margin to just 59-53 on its first possession of the fourth, Barton went cold. Butler rattled off an 8-0 run over the next three minutes for a 67-53 lead with seven minutes left in the game.
This time, there would be no big comeback. Barton would get the lead into single digits only briefly until the final minute of the game.
Barton converted a season-high 11 3-pointers, launched 36 treys. Barton committed 26 turnovers, resulting in 27 points off turnovers for the Grizzlies.
Richelle Turney and Vanessa Oduah each hit a trio of 3-pointers on the way to a team-high 17 points. D’Shonda Hunt added 11 and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Tamara Nard led a quartet of Grizzlies in double figures with 17.
Barton still has two more crossover games from the East. The Cougars play Cloud County Wednesday then travel to Allen County Saturday. Tip for the Cloud game at the Barton Gym Wednesday is set for 5:30 p.m.
BUTLER 79, BARTON 71
Barton 10 20 21 20 – 71
Butler 18 19 22 20 – 79
BARTON (2-2, 6-7)–Turney 7-13 0-0 17, Oduah 7-19 0-0 17, Hunt 3-7 5-7 11, Ulabo 3-7 1-1 8, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Willt 3-3 0-0 8, Dortland 2-11 0-0 6, Talbott 0-0 0-0 0, Valentine 2-3 0-0 4, Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-64 6-8 71.
BUTLER (3-2, 10-5)–Nard 7-10 3-3 17, Nero 7-15 1-2 16, Perez 5-12 1-2 12, Downs 3-9 0-1 7, McLaurian 5-10 0-0 10, Rosa 1-3 0-0 2, Beck 2-6 0-0 5, Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Gross 3-8 2-4 8. Totals 34-74 7-12 79.
3-pointers–Barton 11-36 (Turney 3-7, Oduah 3-12, Willt 2-2, Dortland 2-11, Ulabo 1-2, Hunt 0-1, Miller 0-1), Butler 4-17 (Nero 1-2, Downs 1-4, Beck 1-4, Perez 1-5, McLaurian 0-1, Rosa 0-1). Rebounds–Barton 30 (Hunt 9), Butler 38 (McLaurian 9). Assists–Barton 11 (Oduah 3), Butler 14 (Nero 5, Downs 5). Steals–Barton 8 (3 with 2), Butler 12 (Downs 4). Blocks – Barton 2 (Turney, Oduah), Butler 1 (Nard). Turnovers – Barton 26, Butler 19. Technicals–Turney, Downs.
JAYHAWK WEST WOMEN
Hutchinson 6-0 13-1
Seward 4-0 9-3
Pratt 3-1 9-4
Colby 2-1 11-1
Dodge City 3-2 8-5
Barton 2-3 6-8
NW Tech 1-4 5-8
Garden City 0-4 5-8
JAYHAWK EAST WOMEN
Cowley 4-2 14-2
Butler 4-2 11-5
Independence 4-2 6-6
Coffeyville 3-3 13-3
Cloud 2-4 7-9
Allen 1-5 6-9
Neosho 0-5 5-7
SATURDAY—Butler 79, Barton 71; Cloud 61, NW Tech 54; Cowley 65, Colby 46; Hutchinson 81, Allen 51; Independence 82, Garden 69; Iowa Western 73, Cloud 56; No. Oklahoma 59, Dodge 51; Pratt 86, Neosho 77; Seward 66, Coffeyville 62
WEDNESDAY—Allen at NW Tech; Bethany JV at Hutchinson; Cloud at Barton; Colby at Coffeyville; Cowley at Dodge; Garden at Neosho; Independence at Seward; Pratt at Butler
