Shaky at times, the Barton Community College women’s basketball team never really put Colby away.
The Lady Cougars had some big runs to keep the Lady Trojans at arms length on their way to a 69-53 Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division victory on Wednesday night at Kirkman Activity Center.
“We thought we were going to break it open,” Barton head coach Carter Kruger said, “and the lack of maturity at times, lack of focus really, cost us. Our energy was good tonight. I thought we worked hard. We played hard. At times, we were just our own worst enemy.
“At halftime, I told them, ‘We had a great run there. It was 28-12. Then we happened to ourselves.’ ”
Erin Copeland, who sank three of her four attempted 3-pointers, finished with a career-high 18 points.
Ashton Bruner finished with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
“Erin’s good again,” Kruger said. “You can’t ask for much more than what she did tonight.
“Ashton does a nice job getting good looks and stuff. She just gets frustrated at times, and I think that affects her focus level, her free throws.”
A 9-2 run bolstered the Lady Cougars to an early lead, but the Lady Trojans responded with a 9-2 run of their own, knotting the game at 11 with 11:17 remaining in the first half.
Barton responded with a 17-1 explosion.
Blair Bloomfield dropped in a 3-pointer and Bruner laced in a layup before Colby’s Kytiana Seals, who finished with 18 points to lead the Lady Trojans, put in one of two free throws.
Ta’Kerra Williams got a putback, Bruner got a steal and a basket and Bloomfield, who finished with 12 points, connected on a pull-up jumper.
A Copeland 3, 1 of 2 free throws from Bloomfield and another layup from Bruner gave the Lady Cougars a 28-12 lead with 5:55 remaining.
A 10-0 run from Colby cut into the lead, but Barton held a 35-24 advantage at intermission.
“If we cut our turnovers in half, we probably score 80,” Kruger said of his team’s 23 turnovers in the game. “We just had some kids revert back to some old habits. Those are some things that we have to fix.”
With 15:49 remaining in the game, Colby closed the gap to 37-34, the closest it would get in the second half.
Barton went on a 11-1 run to pull ahead, a lead it maintained for the rest of the game.
Barton travels to Pratt on Saturday night, starting at 6. The men’s game follows at 8.

JUCO BASKETBALL
Kansas Jayhawk Community
College Conference
Western Division

WOMEN

Wednesday

At Great Bend
Kirkman Activity Center
LT & Sheila Fleske Court

Barton Community College 69, Colby 53
COLBY (6-15, 0-7)
    Kytiana Seals 6-13 2-5 18, Agnese Aramina 5-10 2-2 15, Linda Pagrode 2-7 6-6 12, Shantydra Arnold 0-7 4-10 4, Kasey Hoyt 1-7 0-0 2, Liene Liepina 1-2 0-0 2, Ashlon Gaines 0-1 0-0 0, Chelsea Jonte 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-50 14-23 53.
BARTON (12-7, 2-4)
    Erin Copeland 5-10 5-6 18, Ashton Bruner 5-12 4-11 14, Blair Bloomfield 4-10 3-4 12, Taschell Phillips 4-6 0-0 8, Ta’Kerra Williams 3-6 2-2 8, Kailai Brantner 1-1 2-4 4, Jackie Bueno 1-2 1-2 3, Taylor Mayes 0-2 2-2 2, Jennifer Allende 0-2 0-0 0, Kelsey Keith 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 19-31 69.
    Halftime — Barton 35, Colby 24. Three-point goals — Colby 9-21 (Seals 4-8, Aramina 3-5, Pagrode 2-4, Jonte 0-1, Hoyt 0-1, Arnold 0-2); Barton 4-11 (Copeland 3-4, Bloomfield 1-4, Allende 0-1, Keith 0-2). Rebounds — Colby 29 (Hoyt 7); Barton 48 (Bruner 11). Assists — Colby 10 (Arnold 3, Seals 3); Barton 14 (Copeland 7). Steals — Barton 12 (Bruner 5); Colby 10 Hoyt 3). Tunovers — Barton 23, Colby 21. Total fouls — Colby 23, Barton 21. Fouled out — Colby (Liepina, Aramina, Pagrode); Barton (None). Technical fouls — Colby (bench), Barton (None).