No. 15 ranked Grayson College, Texas spoiled the home debut for the Barton Cougar women Fleske Fieldhouse debut 79-53 Friday in the opening day of the annual Best Western Angus Inn/Cougar Booster Club Classic.
Barton's second loss of the season to the Vikings drops the Cougars to 2–3, while Grayson, which defeated Barton by 13 in its home Classic earlier this month, stays unbeaten at 4–0.
Barton will conclude Classic play Saturday with a 5:30 p.m. matchup against Redlands Community College, now 4–1 following its 76–31 victory over Colby Community College.
Despite scoring the game's first four points, Barton's early momentum evaporated as turnovers fueled Grayson's transition attack. The Vikings closed the final five minutes of the opening frame on a decisive surge, outscoring the Cougars by thirteen to take a 23–11 lead.
Grayson continued to add separation in each of the remaining quarters, stretching the margin to as many as thirty late while cruising to the win.
Regina Donanu led all scorers with 15 points, knocking down 3-of-5 from long range, while pacing Barton on the glass with eight rebounds and adding three steals.
Freshmen Bryndal Moody and Christal Longdelivered career best performances off the bench — Moody finishing with nine points on a perfect 3-for-3 outing from deep, and Long contributing eight points and seven rebounds.
Grayson countered with a deep, balanced performance, placing five players in double figures while sinking 15 three-pointers on 45.5% shooting from beyond the arc.
Madison Martin led the Vikings with 13 points, while Tahlaya Biglow scored 11; both also dished out a game-high six assists. Joanna MacAskill rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points and six rebounds.
Grayson 23 19 19 18 — 79
Barton 11 14 12 16 — 53
GRAYSON COLLEGE (4-0)—Madison Martin 3-13 (3-8) 4-4 13; Biglow 3-6 (3-5) 2-2 8, MacAskill 4-5 (1-2) 103 10; Jackson 1-6 0-0 2; Chamberlain 207 (2-5(0-0 6; Johnson 4-7 (0-1) 0-2 8; Berridge (3-3) 0-0 9; Melton 2-8 (1-5) 0-0 5; Ingram 2-8 0-0 4, Davis 1-1 1-2 3; Totals 28-71 (15-33) 8-13 79
BARTON COUGARS (2-3)—Donanu 6-23 (3-5) 0-0 15; Akinde 3-8 2-4 8; Long 3-4 (1-1) 1-2 8, Moody (3-3) 0-0, 9; Eck 1-7 (1-4) 2-2 5; Greer 0-5 (0-3) 0-0 0, Clements 0-3 1-2 1, Rolfs (0-1) 0-0 0; Hall 2-4 (1-2) 2-2 7; Ackerman 0-3 (0-2) 0-0 0; Yunus 0-1 0-0 0; Totals () 53.
Rebounds—GC 42 (Ingram 8); BC 44 (Donanu 8). Assists—GC 24 (Biglow 6); BC 11 (Eck 3). Steals—GC 13 (Biglow 4): BC 8 (Donanu 3).
