Box Score MORROW, Ga.-Barton's Faith Hunter hit an off-balance driving baseline layup with 21 seconds left to lead the fifth-seeded Lady Bulldogs to a 80-79 upset win over fourth-seeded Georgia College in the quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at the Athletics & Fitness Center.
Junior guard Jannetta Robinson (Willard, N.C.) scored a career-high 30 points for Barton (26-4). Robinson had a hot hand swishing 13-of-17 shot attempts including a game-high four 3-pointers on five tries.
The Lady Bulldogs are 13-1 on the road this season and winners of 11 consecutive contests away from home. Barton is 2-3 all time in NCAA DII Tournament games and have now matched its furthest advancement when the Bulldogs made it to the second round of the 2004 tourney.
Barton, who was down by 12 at the halftime break, advances to the semifinal round of the 2011 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional where they will face top-seeded and region host Clayton State Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Lakers are currently ranked No. 2 in the USA Today ESPN Coaches' Poll.
Georgia College (22-7) had a chance to claim victory on its next offensive possession, but Tammeisha Law missed a layup that Barton's (26-4) Jennifer Skepple was able to corral, allowing the Lady Bulldogs to celebrate the one-point win in front of a large crowd.
Hunter, a sophomore guard from Raleigh, N.C., came off the bench to score 10 of her 15 points in the second half. Barton's reserves outscored the Bobcats bench 24-7, which was key with two Bulldog starters fouling out in the second half.
Senior point guard Jamila Johnson – a Daktronics Second Team All-Region and First Team All-Conference Carolinas honoree – broke a 74-74 tie with a pull-up jumper in the paint followed by a steal and a fast break layup as Barton took a four-point advantage into the final minute. However, Johnson was called for her fifth foul on the ensuing GCSU play and Chimere Jordan converted on an old-fashion three-point play. After a missed Barton shot, Jordan canned a pair of free throws to catapult the Bobcats in front with 31 ticks showing on the clock setting up the late-game heroics by Hunter.
In a balanced Bulldog attack four Barton players finished in double figures. Johnson finished with 11 before fouling out and Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year Nyeshea Willie totaled 10 before being called for her fifth foul with over four minutes to go.
Barton finished the win on Friday evening shooting 46.8 percent (29 for 62) as a team. Georgia College shot 44.2 percent (23 for 52) from the field. Both teams were lethal from the charity stripe with Barton missing just one attempt from the charity stripe. The Bulldogs hit upon 93.8-percent (15 for 16) of their free throws and Georgia College knocked down 80.6 percent (25 for 31).
Jordan was the top scorer in the game with 32 points. Jordan also had 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Dominique Huffin (20) and Karisma Boykin (16) also acquired double-figure scoring outputs in the narrow loss to the Bulldogs.
The game began with Barton rushing out to an 11-2 lead with a little over 17 minutes remaining in the first half of action including the contests first eight points.
The tide turned in Georgia College's favor in the first half from there as the Bobcats went on a 21-10 run to own a two-point 23-21 lead after a Jessica Baker three-pointer with 9:40 on the game clock in the first stanza. Georgia College would eventually end the first half with a double-digit lead at 42-30 making seven of its eight made 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
Georgia College still led by 10 points with just 16 minutes to play at 47-37, but a 22-13 run over the next seven minutes had pulled Barton to within one at 60-59 with 9:06 remaining. The Bulldogs pulled ahead shortly thereafter by one at 63-62 after a Robinson jumper in the paint.
All six of the games ties occurred in the final six minutes of play.
Barton's game-winning lay-up by Hunter eventually ended a second half that saw Barton outscore Georgia College 50-37.
