While the Garden City Broncbuster women hit just 36.5 percent of their shots on Saturday evening in Great Bend, they got off 26 more attempts than host Barton by turning the Cougars over 18 times and dominating the offensive boards, resulting in a 70-60 win for Garden City.
The Busters rebound from a loss at home to Butler on Wednesday, getting back above .500 in the conference at 8-7, and 11-8 overall.
“The biggest thing for us is we did a good job being able to apply ball pressure, and jumping the passing lane,” GCCC head coach Charinee Mitchell said. “And we did a good job of rattling them a little bit.”
And while the Cougars turned it over on nearly a quarter of their possessions, the Busters had just seven turnovers.
“Tonight, we’ve got to give them (Buster players) credit,” Mitchell said of her team. “They took care of the ball tonight. They were a little bit smarter with the ball offensively.”
They also had 18 offensive boards and held Barton to just six, scoring 13 second-chance points and 16 off of turnovers.
Shakendra Tilley had four of those offensive rebounds, and led the Busters with 15 points before fouling out. Jada Washington had 13 points and Talia Roberts scored 12 off the bench.
The Busters were without Daz Johnson, who was benched for disciplinary reasons, Mitchell said. Jessica Carrillo saw the bulk of Johnson’s minutes, scoring six points and hauling in six rebounds.
Barton was led by Jalin Stapleton’s 16 points, while Taylor Regan had 13 points and 18 rebounds.
The Busters led for three-and-a-half quarters, before Barton’s Jeanna Dixon’s layup gave the Cougars a 54-52 lead midway through the fourth. But Abi Green had an immediate answer with a jumper, and then on the Busters’ next possession, Green hauled in an offensive board and was fouled, making both free throws to give the Busters back the lead.
Carrillo’s jumper pushed it to four points, and Washington sunk a 3-pointer, as the Busters finished the game on a 18-6 run.
“We were crashing the glass and getting some second-chance opportunities and getting fouled,” Mitchell said. “It was putting us on the line and we were able to make some free throws.”
Green finished with nine points, and Kelcy McHenry had seven points and nine rebounds. Barton fell to 12-7 and 9-6.
The Busters return home to host Cowley at 6 p.m. Wednesday.