Hot-shooting Barton ends Lady Tigers’ season 83-65

Fourth-seeded Barton Community College shot 63 percent from the floor in the second half of its Quarterfinal Region VI Women's Basketball Tournament game against fifth-seeded Cowley College Tuesday in Great Bend as the Cougars ended the Lady Tigers' season with an 83-65 win.

Cowley trailed 18-12 at the end of the first quarter and got down by as many as 17 points (37-20) before going into the half trailing 39-25.

Freshman Carson Dean and Martyna Kowalska had 10 points a piece for the Lady Tigers, but the rest of the team combined to make only 2-of-12 shots in the opening half. Barton's Mikaela Hall scored 11 of her game-high 24 points in the opening half.

Cowley would close within 58-48 after three quarters of play, and trailed just 67-58 following a three-pointer by sophomore Milena Fromming with 7:11 remaining. However, the Cougars answered with a 12-2 run as they pulled away for the win.

"I never felt like we could get over the hump," Cowley head coach Todd Clark said. "We just always seemed to be fighting from behind all game."

After opening the season with a record of 3-4 in the conference, the Lady Tigers bounced back to win 14 conference games and finish the season with a record of 19-12.

"I thought we overachieved in a lot of ways," Clark said. "We just could not sustain things and be consistent offensively."

Dean went 4-of-7 from three-point range and led Cowley with 21 points as she finished her freshman campaign averaging 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds.

"She really improved throughout the season and did a great job for us," Clark said.

Cowley recently received some good news when sophomores Baylee Fincher and Shamahra Henderson announced they will be coming back next season, thanks to having the previous season's Covid year not count against them.

Fincher averaged 15.5 points per game and her 482 points scored this season were the program's 20^th most points scored in a single season. Henderson averaged 10 points and five rebounds as a sophomore.

Cowley will have to make up for the losses of sophomores Martyna Kowalska (14.7 points, 10.2 rebounds), and Milena Fromming (9.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists).

"Those two are both super kids that have bright futures ahead of them," Clark said.

Barton (19-12) advances to face top-seeded Independence Friday at 1 p.m. in the semifinals of the Region VI Tournament played in Salina, KS.

Cowley will now start working towards next season.

"We need better players," Clark said. "Good recruiting makes a better coach. I am proud of the way this year's team competed and want to thank the fans for their tremendous support."

Box score:

Cowley (65): Milena Fromming 1-5 0-0 3, Baylee Fincher 3-13 0-0 7, Carson Dean 7-11 3-3 21, Shamahra Henderson 3-5 5-7 11, Martyna Kowalska 5-13 2-5 12, Onnahili Williams 3-3 1-2 7, Callie Scott 0-1 0-0 0, Jana Radovanovic 0-1 0-0 0, Lexi Rose 1-5 2-2 4, Nicolette Perez 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 23-59 13-19 65.

Barton (83): Acorionna Lard 5-9 0-0 11, Brennan Kirchhoff 2-3 2-2 7, Morgan Meyers 3-7 0-0 6, Jenny Nkem Womsi 3-3 0-0 6, Mikaela Hall 10-15 4-5 24, Lili Shubert 5-15 4-4 17, Dayjsha Fanning 0-1 0-0 0, Britney Schroer 0-0 0-0 0, Alissa Heskamp 5-7 0-0 12, Cora Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 33-60 10-11 83.

Three-pointers: Cowley 6-21 (Dean 4-7, Fincher 1-6, Fromming 1-3, Perez 0-2, Rose 0-1, Radovanovic 0-1, Henderson 0-1), Barton 7-17 (Shubert 3-6, Heskamp 2-3, Lard 1-3, Kirchhoff 1-2, Meyers 0-3). Rebounds: Cowley 28 (Kowalska 7), Barton 33 (Shubert 7). Assists: Cowley 8 (three players with 2), Barton 19 (Lard 6). Turnovers: Cowley 15, Barton 17. Total fouls: Cowley 18, Barton 24. Fouled out: Nkem Womsi. Technicals: none.