Box Score by Benny Benton
TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The Barton College women's basketball team claimed its eighth straight victory on Saturday with a 73-67 Conference Carolinas road win at North Greenville University.
The Lady Bulldogs (11-5, 6-2) never trailed in the contest, but did get a second-half scare from the Crusaders (3-12, 2-6) after letting a 14-point lead slip down to three late in the third quarter.
Barton grew the lead back to as many as 17 points midway through the final period, only to have North Greenville battle back to the final margin of six.
Redshirt senior Alex Kimble posted her first career double-double after collecting a career-high 10 rebounds in addition to a team-high 18 points. The Virginia Beach, Va., resident saw her streak of 20-plus point games end at four, but she did reach double-figures for the 12th game in a row.
Junior Kianna Wynn chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds, senior Tatyana Jackson added 11 points, and freshman Shanika Peterkin contributed 10 points, eight blocks, five rebounds and three steals. Peterkin has now posted six or more blocks in four straight games. Barton also received nine points, six rebounds and a team-high five assists from junior Dinah Neal.
The Crusaders were paced by Cameron Carter, who drained five 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 25 points. Karen Donehew added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
Barton jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but North Greenville came back to tie the game at 8-all, the only point in the contest where BC did not lead.
The Lady Bulldogs held a 22-17 advantage after the first quarter and enjoyed a slim 22-19 lead in the second period when they put together an 11-0 run to pull away. Kimble scored four points during the spurt and Jackson added a 3-pointer.
Still trailing by 14 early in the second half, North Greenville stormed back with a 14-3 run, capped by a Bailey Breazeale jumper that cut the deficit to just three at 54-51 with 1:55 left in the third.
However, Neal scored the final four points of the period to give Barton a 58-51 cushion, and the Lady Bulldogs scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to take their biggest lead of the afternoon, 17 points, at 68-51 with 7:29 to go.
Barton held a 73-60 advantage at the final media time out of the game, but did not score again over the final 4:34 of the contest, missing its last five shots.
North Greenville used a 3-pointer by Savannah Hughes, a jumper by Kyli Schmidt and a jumper by Carter to close within six with 1:54 remaining. The Crusaders got the ball back after a missed shot by Kimble, but Carter air-mailed a jumper and the Crusaders eventually turned the ball over on a shot clock violation with 50 seconds to go.
After shooting better than 50 percent from the field in the first half, Barton managed just 31 percent over the final two quarters (9 of 29). However, Barton held NGU to just 29 percent in the fourth quarter (5 of 17) to minimize the damage.
Barton enjoyed a 45-38 advantage in rebounding and a one-turnover edge (14 to 15).
The Lady Bulldogs will continue their road trip on Monday when they visit Central, S.C., to face Southern Wesleyan University.
