COLBY 57, BARTON 51 — Colby outscored the Barton Cougars 9-3 down the stretch for a hard-fought 57-51 Jayhawk Conference basketball victory.
The Cougars missed six consecutive 3-pointers along with a turnover after a 48-48 tie with 3:54 left.
Barton (3-6, 1-2 Jayhawk) travels to Coffeyville Saturday while Colby improves to 3-6, 1-2 Jayhawk.
Colby's Dessirae Ulmer (14), Jera Kruleski (14) and Olivia Hultgren (11) scored in double figures.
Barton's conference player of the week Regina Donanu scored 14 points and Mary Akinde earned a doub;e/double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, but they combined for 9 of 34 shooting from the field.
Christal Long added 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with seven rebounds, with Alaina Eck eight points and five from Kodi Greer rounding out Barton's scoring.
Barton rallied from a 9-point third-quarter deficit to pull even 48-48, but Colby answered with key perimeter shots and steady free-throw shooting to snap a 10-game losing streak to the Cougars.
Barton held a 40–35 rebounding advantage, including 15 offensive boards, but finished just 18-for-65 from the field (27.7%), 4-for-22 from beyond the arc (18.2%), and shot under 23% percent in two of the four quarters. The Cougars went 1-for-14 in the second and 4-for-18 in the fourth, scoring a combined 20 points in those periods.
Colby countered with a steadier 38.3% overall, 6-for-16 from three, and sank 15-17 (88.2%) from the charity stripe.
Dessirae Ulmer led the Trojans with 14 points and nine boards, with Jera Kruleski also adding 14 points with six rebounds. Olivia Hultgren added 11 points and five assists to help lead an 18-0 advantage in bench scoring.
Barton opened with balanced scoring from its starting group to take a 16–14 edge after 10 minutes, but momentum evaporated in the second frame as the Cougars endured a decisive 1-for-14 shooting drought. Free throws kept Barton in reach but Colby used an 18–10 period to grab a 32–26 halftime lead.
The Cougars responded with their best offensive stretch in the third quarter. Behind Akinde's perfect 3-for-3 stanza and timely baskets from Donanu and Eck, Barton shot 40% in the period and trimmed the deficit to 43–41 heading into the fourth.
Long fueled a further push, converting a three-point play and finishing in transition as Barton tied the contest at 48–48 with 3:54 remaining.
However, the final minutes mirrored the earlier cold spell. The Cougars shot just 4-for-18 in the fourth quarter, including 1-for-9 from deep, while Colby's pull-away stretch came from Kruleski's go-ahead layup and Hultgren's dagger top-of-the-key, banked in triple with 42 seconds left to seal their first win against Barton since 2020.
Colby 14 18 11 14 — 57
Barton 16 10 15 10 — 51
COLBY—Ulmer 4-10 6-7 14; Kruleski 4-9 (2-4) 4-4 14; Holtgren 4-9 (2-5) 1-2 11; Russell 3-7 (1-4) 0-0 7; Booker 0-4 (0-2) 0-0 0; Pasti 1-3 0-0 2; Nolan (1-1) 0-0 3; Ando 0-1 0-0 0; Potts 1-3 2-2 4; Totals 18-47 (6-16) 15-17 57.
BARTON—Donanu 4-21 (1-8) 5-6 14; Akinde 5-13 3-4 13; Long 4-5 (0-1) 3-3 11; Eck 3-14 (2-6) 0-0 8; Greer 2-8 (1-6) 0-0 5; Emechete 0-2 0-0 0; Ackerman 0-1 0-0 0; Moody (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 18-65 (4-22) 11-13 51.
Rebounds—C 35 (Ulmer 9); BC 40 (Akinde 11). Assists—C 11 (Holtgren 5); BC 11 (Moody 3). Steals—C 5 (Booker 3); BC 7 (Long 2, Greer 2). TO—C 15, BC 11.
JAYHAWK WOMEN
Butler 3-0 8-0
Dodge City 2-0 7-0
Coffeyville 2-1 8-1
Garden City 2-1 7-1
Hutchinson 2-1 7-2
Seward 2-1 7-2
Cowley 2-1 6-3
Colby 2-1 5-4
Pratt 1-2 5-3
Barton 1-2 3-6
Hays NW 0-2 0-7
Cloud 0-3 4-4
Independence 0-2 3-5
11-25—Colby 57, Barton 51; Hutchinson 83, Independence 46; Cowley 86, Cloud 81; Butler 89, Pratt 63; Coffeyville 55, Seward 45; Garden City 74, Hays NW 51
11-29—Cowley at Colby; Pratt at Independence; Barton at Coffeyville; Dodge City at Cloud; Hays NW at Butler; Seward at Hutchinson
12-2—Hutchinson at Barton; Colby at Dodge City; Coffeyville at Cowley; Seward at Pratt; Butler at Garden City; Independence at Hays NW
