Box Score by Doug Page
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College women's basketball team limited the Conference Carolinas top team to 18 points in the second half as the Lady Bulldogs defeated Limestone College 70-49 on Wednesday night at Wilson Gymnasium.
The Lady Bulldogs (16-6, 11-3) erased a first-quarter deficit and wouldn't look back, taking a 35-31 lead into the half after out-scoring the Saints 20-15 in the second quarter. Limestone (17-4, 12-2) struggled at both ends of the court in the third quarter, tallying just four points on 2-of-16 shooting from the field.
Senior Tatyana Jackson tallied a game-high 20 points for the Lady Bulldogs on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. The Wake Forest, N.C. native also drained a game-high four shots from downtown, while adding five rebounds and three assists. Junior Kianna Wynn recorded 19 points on the night to go along with seven boards on 8-of-13 shooting for Barton, while senior Karimah Dean pulled-down a team-high 12 rebounds. Junior Dinah Neal added nine points, five rebounds, and four assists for BC. Freshman Shanika Peterkin tallied just two points from the floor for the Lady Bulldogs but notched 10 boards and five blocks to up her total to 78 on the season.
Keidra Smith recorded a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds for Limestone, while Jasmine Richardson tallied 10 points for the Saints. Aleyah Chivers added nine points off the bench, with seven coming in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Aaliyah Davis pulled-down eight boards to go along with six points and two blocks for Limestone.
Barton held several leads early in the opening quarter of action as Wynn made it 6-4 BC following a layup with 6:13 left to play. Wynn would double the lead for the Lady Bulldogs after another layup and lead to Barton 7-0 run as Kimble connected on a trey with 5:05 left on the clock. Trailing 11-4, Smith stopped the run and got the Saints back onto the boars as she trimmed the deficit to 11-6. With just over two minutes left to play in the quarter, a layup from Davis knotted the score for the Saints at 11 and shifted the momentum to the visitors.
Jayla Morrow gave the Saints a brief 13-11 lead before Neal answered with a layup for BC to tie the score at 13. Smith hit the final bucket of the quarter with less than a minute to play as her three gave Limestone a 16-15 lead heading into the second quarter.
Senior Taura Jones would sink her only three of the game with 9:23 left in the quarter to open the Barton lead to 20-16. Richardson evened the score at 20-20 only to see the Lady Bulldogs and Jackson come right back down the court to retake the lead. Neal and Wynn sparked a 5-0 run for BC that would stretch the lead to 27-20 with just under seven minutes to play. The Saints rallied to trim the gap to 32-29 following a layup by Davis with 2:58 remaining and would eventually pull within a point (32-21) of knotting the score. Wynn tallied the last five points of the quarter for BC, sending the Lady Bulldogs into the locker room with a four-point edge over the Saints.
Jackson quickly got things going for Barton to start the third quarter as Jackson connected on a three to up the lead to 38-31. With just over seven minutes left in the quarter, Jackson hit back-to-back jumpers to open the lead to 11 for BC. Barton continued its offensive push as Kimble hit her second trey of the night to give the Lady Bulldogs a 47-33 lead and force Limestone to call a timeout. Richardson ended the 12-2 run by the Lady Bulldogs with a layup that cut the score to 47-35 with 4:33 left in the quarter.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Bulldogs would take their first 20-point lead of the contest as Wynn finished a layup to make it 55-35 less than a minute into play. Jackson continued to find her shot from downtown for Barton as she drained consecutive treys to give BC a 63-36 advantage on the scoreboard. The Saints would string together some offense with less than three minutes remaining as Chivers connected on a three for Limestone that trimmed the deficit to 68-47. Chivers answered with another bucket for Limestone to make it 68-49 and allow BC to score the final points in the process as sophomore Summer Baer recorded a layup with four ticks left on the clock to seal the victory.
The Lady Bulldogs finished the game 28-of-67 from the floor and 7-of-20 from downtown, while Limestone went 21-of-68 from the floor and 3-of-18 from downtown. Barton out-rebounded the Saints 52-42 and tallied 21 second-chance points. The Lady Bulldogs tallied 14 assists in the contest but were forced into 13 turnovers by the Saints. Limestone was able to score 14 points off BC turnovers, while Barton recorded just three points off 10 Limestone miscues.
Barton will honor its 2017-18 senior class on Saturday as the Lady Bulldogs play host to Southern Wesleyan inside Wilson Gym. Tip-off between the Lady Bulldogs and Warriors is slated for 2 p.m.
