It has been a tough stretch of basketball for the Barton women.
Almost a forgettable stretch. One month ago, the Cougars were 9-5 in the Jayhawk and vying for a top five spot in the Jayhawk.
Heading into its game with Hutchinson Wednesday night at the Barton Gym, the Cougars were 10-11 in the conference and clinging to hopes of a top eight finish and a home playoff game in March.
Things didn’t get much better against the Blue Dragons as the Cougars fell, 75-57.
The loss was the third straight and seventh in the last eight outings for Barton. The Cougars are now 10-12 in the Jayhawk and 13-13 overall. Hutch avoided a 3-game losing streak for the first time since 2007 and is now 17-5 in the Jayhawk and 21-5 overall.
Despite the slide, Barton still has a chance to finish in the top eight. The Cougars are currently battling Coffeyville for that last home playoff spot. Coffeyville easily handled Colby to move two games clear of Barton for that final spot.
There remains a better than decent chance those two will play each other, it is just a matter of where that contest will take place.
Seward is solidly in the Jayhawk lead at 20-2 with Indy two games back at 18-4. Hutch and Cowley are 17-5.
Barton was without the services of head coach Alan Clark in the loss to Hutch. Flu kept him home, after being told to stay away for five days back on Monday. That put first-year assistant Kesha Watson in charge Wednesday night.
The Cougars got a boost when Jaylin Stapleton beat the first quarter buzzer on a shot near halfcourt to trim a double-digit Hutchinson lead to 19-11.
That seemed to ignited the Barton offense. After scoring just eight points for nearly 10 full minutes, the Cougars scored 10 – counting the Stapleton halfcourt shot – in just more than two minutes to cut the Hutch lead to 24-18 early in the second.
But the offense would go cold again after that. Barton scored just two points over the next four minutes as Hutch build that lead back to double figures at 32-20 with four minutes left in the half.
At half, Hutchinson had a comfortable 40-26 lead.
If there were hopes for a third quarter rally, the Blue Dragons put an end to it. The lead ballooned above 20 points late in the quarter, 53-32. Hutch led 57-39 after three.
Taylor Regan led Barton with 13 points followed by Stapleton and Fatou Ndao with 12 each. Micaela Jellison grabbed eight rebounds to pace the Cougars while Natasha Dolinsky handed out four assists.
Jada Mickens led Hutchinson with 13 points and eight boards.
The Cougars will continue their quest for a top eight finish and a home playoff game on the road the next two outings. Barton travels to Concordia Saturday for a battle with Cloud County then to Pratt Wednesday to take on the Beavers. Both games will tip a 6 pm.

No. 23 Hutchinson
75, Barton 57
Hutch 19 21 17 18 – 75
Barton 11 15 13 18 – 57
Hutchinson (17-5, 21-5) 75
Brett 4-8 2-4 12, Cramer 3-7 1-2 10, T Bradshaw 4-8 0-0 9, Roebuck 5-10 0-0 10, Mickens 6-9 1-2 13, Hopkins 3-6 1-1 7, B Bradshaw 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 3-3 4-4 10, Chigbu 0-0 0-0 0, Barber 0-1 3-4 3. Totals – 28-52 12-17 75.
Barton (10-12, 13-13) 57
Stapleton 4-15 1-3 12, Regan 3-7 7-7 13, Jellison 2-5 0-0 4, Ndao 6-7 0-1 12, Dolinsky 1-7 3-4 5, Dixon 0-3 0-0 0, White 1-2 1-2 4, Dirks 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 2-6 0-0 5, Chukwudi 1-4 0-0 2. Totals – 20-57 12-17 57.
3-pointers – Hutch 7-20 (Cramer 3-6, Brett 2-6, T Bradshaw 1-2, Roebuck 1-4, Mickens 0-1, Hopkins 0-1); Barton 5-12 (Stapleton 3-5, White 1-1, Miller 1-3, Dixon 0-1, Dolinsky 0-2).
Rebounds – Hutch 27 (Mickens 8); Barton 38 (Jellison 8). Assists – Hutch 16 (Cramer 5); Barton 10 (Dolinsky 4). Steals – Hutch 6 (Cramer 2); Barton 4 (Stapleton 3). Blocks – Hutch 4 (Hopkins 3). Barton 2 (Jellison, Ndao)
Turnovers – Hutch 10, Barton 17. Fouled Out – Jellison, Barton. Technicals – None.