The road. You could say it hasn’t been hospitable to the Barton women’s basketball team this season.
The Cougars are 8-1 at home with only a loss to 9-1 Northern Oklahoma-Enid back on the first weekend as a blemish.
On the road, Barton headed to the Sports Arena in Hutchinson with an 0-3 mark, getting beaten by 20 points per contest.
Things didn’t change Saturday at Hutchinson. The Blue Dragons rolled to a 72-53 win over Barton in the final game before the Christmas Break for both teams.
With the loss, Barton slips down the standings one spot to seventh with a 5-4 mark. The Cougars are 8-6 overall. Hutch stayed near the top of the standings at 7-2, tied with Seward County and Cloud County for third behind Independence and Cowley.
Hutch, 9-2 overall, has won seven straight. It was Hutch’s 18th straight win over Barton and the ninth in a row at the Sports Arena.
The main culprit in the loss – rebounding. More specifically, defensive rebounding woes by Barton. Hutchinson grabbed 28 offensive boards in the game, resulting in 27 second chance points for the Blue Dragon. Barton had six offensive boards resulting in six points.
Another key stat in the loss for Barton came at the free throw line. There, Hutch knocked down 18-of-22 while Barton made 10-of-16.
“When they didn’t make a three, they would get the offensive rebound and score or get to the free throw line,” Coach Alan Clark said. “It is the same thing that happened with us at Independence. The other team gets so many more shots than we do because we can’t rebound.
“We have to figure that out. We can win against teams in the this conference but we are not going to beat the good teams if we continue to give up a lot of offensive rebounds.”
If that wasn’t enough to sway things to the home team, throw in just seven Blue Dragon turnovers and a season-high 12-of-34 on 3-pointers.
Almost from the start, Hutchinson was in control. The Blue Dragons led 10-2 five minutes in. After a quick rally by Barton to make to tie it at 10-all.
The Blue Dragons led 18-13 after the first quarter and used a 12-0 in the second period to make it 33-17 midway through the second stanza.
Juliana Chagas did her best to keep the Cougars in the game. The sophomore from Brazil had a huge first half. She scored 16 first-half points – including six of the final eight points of the half.
That kept Barton in striking distance, down just 33-25 at intermission.
Barton was able to get it down to six a couple times early in the third, but Hutchinson again pushed it back to 16 points late in the period. When Dighton freshman Sara Cramer hit her fifth trey to cap an 8-0 run, Hutch led 48-32.
Barton would not challenge after that.
Chagas scored a career-high 23 to lead the Cougars. She was joined in double figures by Jaylin Stapleton with 13.
Hutch was paced by Jada Mickens with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Cramer added 18 on six 3-pointers.
Barton is off until January. The Cougars resume play with another tough foe as Cloud County visits the Barton Gym to start the next semester. That game will tip at 5:30 pm on Jan. 3.

Hutchinson 72, Barton 53
Barton 13 12 11 17 – 53
Hutch 18 15 15 24 – 72
Barton (5-4, 8-5) 53
Chagas 10-15 0-0 23, Stapleton 3-9 5-8 13, Regan 1-3 0-2 2, Jellison 2-8 3-4 7, Chukwudi 3-5 0-0 6, Ndao 0-1 2-2 2, Dirks 0-0 0-0 0, Dolinksy 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 0-5 0-0 0. Totals – 19-47 10-16 53.
Hutchinson (7-2, 9-2) 72
Cramer 6-14 0-0 18, Brown 2-15 0-0 4, T Bradshaw 0-8 3-4 3, Roebuck 2-7 4-4 4, Mickens 7-15 11-14 28, Green 0-1 0-0 0, Hopkins 1-2 0-0 2, B Bradshaw 0-1 0-0 0, Barber 3-12 0-0 9. Totals – 21-75 18-22 72.
3-pointers – Barton 5-14 (Chagas 3-4, Stapleton 2-5, Regan 0-1, Dolinksy 0-1, Miller 0-1); Hutch 12-34 (Cramer 6-13, Mickens 3-5, Barber 3-5, Green 0-1, Brown 0-5, T Bradshaw 0-5).
Rebounds – Barton 34 (Chagas 6, Chukwudi 6), Hutch 50 (Mickens 14). Assists – Barton 10 (Chagas 4), Hutch 15 (T Bradshaw 4). Steals – Barton 4 (4 with 1), Hutch 8 (Barber, B Bradshaw 2). Blocks – Barton 7 (Chukwudi 4), Hutch 3 (3 with 1).
Turnovers – Barton 16, Hutch 7. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – None.