Box Score By Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The Lady Bulldogs shot a season-high 51.5 percent from the field and totaled a season-high 19 assists en route to an 80-72 victory over Conference Carolinas' foe Belmont Abbey on Saturday night in Wilson Gymnasium.
Despite Belmont Abbey opening the game with four straight points, Barton used a slight 7-0 run over a two minute period to take the early 7-4 lead. Barton's lead would hold until the 11:47 mark when Belmont Abbey's Jayneisha Davis put the Crusaders ahead by one point midway through the half.
That would be the Crusaders' final lead of the half as the Barton lead grew to as much as a 29-22 advantage on a jumper from freshman Tatyana Jackson with 8:43 left on the clock. The Lady Bulldogs carried a 40-34 lead into intermission as Barton scored the final six points of the first half.
Barton would come out firing on all cylinders in the second half as the Lady Bulldogs shot 56.7 percent in the final 20 minutes of play.
A three-pointer from freshman guard Chanel Shannon gave Barton its first double-digit lead of the game with 18:39 left to play as the Lady Bulldogs controlled the scoreboard for the entire second half.
Barton's lead would grow to as large as 62-45 on a jumper from senior Kaila Lea with just over 11 minutes to play as the Lady Bulldogs secured their second straight victory on their home floor.
Senior Brianna Thomas led the Lady Bulldogs with a season-high 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor, with nine rebounds and two block in 31 minutes of play.
Sophomore Shatisha Dukes recorded her second straight 18-point performance to go along with nine rebounds, while freshman Alexis Johnson was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free throw line for 12 points off of the bench. Lea rounded out the double-digit scorers for Barton with 11 points as Jackson dished out a game-high 10 assists with nine points.
The Lady Bulldogs improve to 5-9 overall and 4-3 in league play as Barton will host Pfeiffer University on Tuesday, January 13 at 5:30 p.m. in Wilson Gymnasium.
