Saturday afternoon at the Barton Gym was more about taking care of business than anything for the Barton women’s basketball team.

The Cougars hosted a Pratt team in the bottom half of the West standings. On the horizon was the team sitting at the top of the West standings.

Mission accomplished.

Barton took an early lead on Pratt then held on for a 73-60 win over the Beavers. Barton is now 8-3 in the West, sitting alone in third. Pratt is 3-8.

Next is the West leader, Hutchinson, Wednesday at the Sports Arena in Hutch. Hutch, ranked No. 17, is 9-2 after surviving a close call at Garden City Saturday.

The Blue Dragons have won six straight. The Cougars have won five straight.

In between them is Seward at 6-2. Hutch and Seward play each other Monday in a makeup game.

In the win over Pratt, Barton used a big run over the final three minutes of the first quarter to take control of the contest.

Tiffany Dortland hit a 3-pointer with 3:10 left in the period to give Barton a 15-12 lead.

Lyndi Rumford hit two free throws and Gabby Flute Player knocked down a trey to make it a 20-12 game.

After a Pratt bucket, Dortland hit another trey and Brennan Kirchhoff a runner at the buzzer to make it a 25-14 game.

Barton led by double digits most of the second period before a late Pratt run cut the halftime margin to 39-32.

That would be as close as Pratt got the rest of the way.

The Cougar led hit 17 early in the final period on the way to the 13-point win.

Four players scored in double figures for the Cougars, led by Vanessa Oduah with 17. Queen Ulabo added 15. Dortland finished with 12 and Cora Anderson 10.

Ulabo grabbed 10 rebounds and Dortland eight. Dortland led Barton with six assists.

Tip for Barton’s showdown with Hutchinson will be at 5:30 pm at the Sports Arena.

Barton 73, Pratt 60

Pratt    14 18 13 15 – 60

Barton 25 14 21 13 – 73

Pratt (4-8, 3-8) 60

Mathis 2-9 2-5 6, N Taylor 0-2 0-0 0, J Taylor 3-9 1-2 9, Garrett 1-10 2-2 4, Moss 3-9 0-2 6, Daniels 4-8 0-2 8, Onwugbfor 4-4 4-4 12, Wiebe 4-12 0-0 10,. Washington 1-1 0-0 3, Humphrey 0-1 2-2 2. Totals – 22-70 11-19 60.

Barton (9-3, 8-3) 73

Dortland 4-13 0-0 11, Ulabo 7-14 1-2 15, Oduah 6-11 4-6 17, Johnson 0-3 2-2 2, Anderson 5-9 0-0 10, Willt 0-0 0-0 0, Kirchhoff 2-3 0-0 4, Rumford 1-1 2-2 4, Leveque 0-1 2-2 2, Grygier 0-0 0-0 0, Player 3-5 0-0 8. Totals – 28-60 11-14 73.

3-pointers – Pratt 5-20 (Wiebe 2-3, J Taylor 2-6, Washington 1-1, Mathis 0-1, Moss 0-1, N Taylor 0-2, Onwugbfor 0-2), Barton 6-17 (Dortland 3-8, Player 2-4, Oduah 1-3, Ulabo 0-1, Johnson 0-1).

Rebounds – Pratt 44 (Moss 9), Barton 42 (Ulabo 10). Assists – Pratt 8 (Mathis 3), Barton 16 (Dortland 6). Steals – Pratt 6 (J Taylor 2, Onwugbfor 2), Barton 7 (3 with 2). Blocks – Pratt 3 (Humphrey 2), Barton 4 (Rumford 2).

Turnovers – Pratt 12, Barton 13. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – None.