The Barton Community College women's basketball team used a game-changing second quarter before fending off second-half pushes for a 80–71 victory over Fort Hays Tech Northwest in Jayhawk Conference action.
The Cougars (11-14, 9-10 Jayhawk) drop Northwest to 2-22, 2–16 in league. Barton travels to Garden City Saturday.
Barton's Mary Akinde delivered a monster performance, pouring in a career-high 26 points on 12-of-19 shooting while grabbing 17 rebounds for her fourth straight and 10th double-double of the year, helping Barton to a plus-19 advantage on the glass and an 18-point edge in the paint.
Kodi Greer provided the spark off the bench with a career high 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting, knocking down 4-of-5 from long range to match her personal best while also contributing three assists, two steals, and a block.
Regina Donanu finished with 12 points and seven assists. Alaina Eck added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting and Christal Long chipped in nine points. Sadie Spray scored three points with 6 rebounds and a career high 5 assists.
Zarria Thomas paced the Tigers with 29 points, connecting on 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. Taisiia Vypovska added 15 points. Marta Rodriguez contributed 10 points and six assists.
Barton shot 29-of-52 (56%) from the floor and 6-of-10 (60%) from 3-point range, while Northwest finished at a 45% clip, including 13-of-29 (45%) from beyond the arc.
Northwest carried a 24–18 lead after one period, extending the margin to eight with the first basket of the second quarter.
From there, the Cougars took control. Kodi Greer supplied instant offense off the bench, drilling the second of her four three-pointers to spark the surge.
Following a Tiger bucket, the visitors went silent over the next five minutes as Barton pieced together an 18–0 run to flip the script. Greer buried two more treys during the stretch while Akinde anchored the interior, scoring six points during the decisive run to help send the Cougars into the break with a 43–32 advantage.
Barton extended the lead to as many as 14 in the third quarter before Northwest began clawing back behind its outside shooting. The fourth quarter opened with a jolt as the Tigers drained back-to-back three-pointers in the first 30 seconds, trimming the deficit to eight. Barton answered immediately, rattling off the next six points, highlighted by Akinde's mid-range finish and Donanu's trip to the free throw line, restoring a double-digit cushion at 72–58.
Northwest strung together a 7–0 run midway through the quarter to pull within seven.
Barton responded. Akinde finished through contact on the interior and Donanu converted in transition to stretch the margin back to 11 with just over two minutes. The Tigers closed within 76–70, and Barton converted four free throws in the final minute for the Cougars' 11th straight win in the series.
Hays Tech 24 8 20 19—71
Barton 18 25 23 14—80
HAYS TECH (2-22, 2-16)—Thomas 10-16 (7-10) 2-2 29; Vypovska 6-10 (1-2) 2-4 15; Rodriguez 4-12 (2-3) 0-0 10; Fall 1-4 0-0 2; Brown 2-5 (2-3) 0-0 6; Fernandez 0-4 (0-2) 0-0 0; LyDay (1-1) 0-0 3; Acthun 3-4 0-0 6; Burton 0-4 (0-3) 0-0 0; Totals 27-60 (13-29) 4-6 71
BARTON (11-14, 9-10)—Akinde 12-19 2-4 26; Donanu 4-9 (1-1) 3-4 12; Greer 5-6 (4-5) 2-2 16; Long 3-6 3-4 9; Spray 1-4 (0-1) 1-2 3; Hall 0-2 0-0 0; Clements 0-0 2-2 2; Moody (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 29-52 (6-10) 16-22 80
Rebounds—Hays 41 (Vypovska 6); BC 35 (Akinde 17). Assists—Hays 11 (Rodriguez 6), BC 8 (Donanu 7). Steals—Hays 4 (Slayton 2), BC 9 (N. Williams 4). TO—Hays 16, BC 11
