Coming off a second-half surge that led the Barton Community College Lady Cougars past No. 6-ranked Seward County on Saturday 62-57, the women’s basketball team will play host to Dodge City.
The game against the Lady Conquistadors, who are 8-15 overall, 0-9 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division, is set to begin tonight at 6 at Kirkman Activity Center.
Barton head coach Darin Spence said that he doesn’t want his team to focus on Dodge City’s record.
“For us, it’s about not worrying about who we are playing,” Spence said. “We need to focus on our identity to be more competitive. There has been a couple of cases where we’ve fallen into that trap, but we’ve emphasized playing to our level.”
Freshman Blair Bloomfield, a 6-foot forward from Clifton, hit 10 of 14 field goals (71.4 percent) for a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Lady Cougars (14-9, 4-5).
“She’s getting better each day,” Spence said of Bloomfield. “We’ve been playing her in a different position than she’s used to. Just because she’s one of our taller players doesn’t make her a post player. She is one of our best catch-and-shoot players.”
Bloomfield is second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.2 points per game.
Dionne Harris leads Barton with 13.7 points  and 7.4 rebounds per game, Harris scored all 13 of her points on Saturday in the second half.
“She just has to focus on her defensive game,” Spence said of Harris. “If she’s locked in on her defensive game, she rebounds better. She stays out of foul trouble, and that allows her to stay in the game and get those points.”
Je’nae Strong leads Dodge City with 13.9 points per game. Kalyn Williams also averages in double figures with 10.7 points per game.
Sharice Papaleo, a 6-0 sophomore from El Paso, Texas, leads the Lady Conquistadors with 8.3 rebounds per game.
Barton beat Dodge City on the road 71-64 on Jan. 7.