It was a very good weekend for the Barton Community College women’s basketball team. The Cougars left Kansas for the first time this season and took on a pair of tough foes at the Holiday Inn Classic on the campus of Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colo.
Barton left the Colorado campus with a pair of wins, earning a 79-71 over Trinidad (Colo) State Junior College Friday before knocking off the host school Saturday. Barton defeated Otero in overtime to wrap up the Classic by a 91-88 score.
The wins improved the Cougars to 5-1 and currently riding a 5-game winning streak.
“I was happy with the growth we showed from Friday to Saturday,” coach Carter Kruger said. “We handled a great deal of adversity and came out of it a better team.
“Winning our first true road game against a good Otero team – and to do it in overtime – was a very positive step for our team.”
Friday the Cougars and Trojans locked up in a battle with Trinidad State leading by a single point at the intermission, 39-38. Barton still trailed by a pair nearing the midway point of the second half before going on a 13-6 run to grab a 62-57 lead with eight minutes left in the game.
The Cougars pushed the lead to 10 then held off the Trojans to earn the 79-71 win to run its winning streak to four at the time and drop Trinidad State to 2-5.
“Friday we did just enough to win the game, but overall I was disappointed in our defensive effort,” coach Kruger said. “I expected us to play better on that end. I’m happy to get the win, but we need to continue to improve our consistency.”
Sophomore Phikala Anthony paced the Cougars pouring in a career-high 27 points. The Memphis product hit 9-of-16 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. The only other Cougar to hit double figures was 6-3 freshman McKinna Kraus with 11 points.
Barton hit 20-of-24 free throws in the win as both team were efficient from the charity stripe with Trinidad dropping 17-of-21.
Anthony played hero again Saturday in the win over host Otero. It was a pair of clutch free throws by the Cougars’ leading scorer with 0.8 seconds to play that sent the game to overtime. Anthony then got Barton off to a good start in OT with a drive to the basket followed by a 3-point from Katrina Roenfeldt as Barton jumped out with a 5-0 run to start the extra period.
Another Anthony basket off a steal put Barton up 91-88 in the final 25 seconds then Barton held off the Rattlers’ final 3-point attempts for the win.
“It was a great win for our young ball club,” coach Kruger said. “There were long stretches of the game where we had four or even five freshmen on the court, and for us to show the resolve we did and come away with the win is a very good sign.  We still have a long, long way to go but we took a very positive step Saturday.”
Roenfeldt, a freshman from Dodge City, paced Barton with 22 points on the night, hitting 4-of-7 treys and a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line. Anthony was right behind with 21 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for the double-double – the first of the season by a Cougar.
Anthony made 9-of-10 at the charity stripe including the two clutch free throws in the final second to force OT. She ended the weekend 18-of-19 from the charity stripe and is now 38-of-44 (.863) on the season from the free throw line. She has scored in double figures every game this season and is leading Barton at 18 points per game.
Barton will be back on the court in back-to-back games this week, hosting the Sterling JV Tuesday then traveling to Goodland to take on Northwest Tech Wednesday.