MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Barton women's basketball team (8-19) saw its season come to an end with a 76-73 loss to King (9-20) Sunday evening in the opening round of the 2023 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Championship at the Hawks Athletic Center on the campus of Chowan University.
King, the ninth seed in the tournament, will face fifth-seeded Chowan (16-10) on Monday in the second round on the Hawks' home court beginning at 5:00 p.m. The Bulldogs were seeded eighth in this year's championship.
King was led by Le'Aije Ellington (Indianapolis, Ind.) with a game-high 25 points as the Tornado jumped out to a 43-25 halftime advantage and were able to escape in the end.
The Bulldogs, who were led by freshman forward
Nyah Wilkins (Garner, N.C.) with 18 points, came all the way back to take a 66-61 lead on a field goal by freshman forward
Lauren Mingo (Clinton, Md.) with 3:38 left in the contest. Mingo finished with 13 points and the two-pointer capped off a 14-0 run by Barton.
However, King responded with nine straight points over the next two minutes to take the lead for good. King's Tori Smiley (Indianapolis, Ind.) added a dozen points and Ashley Allen (Sterling, Va.) tallied a double-double – 11 points and 14 rebounds – as the Tornado earned revenge on the Bulldogs, who swept the season series.
Barton junior guard
Lauren Walker (Charlotte, N.C.) scored 16 points in the losing effort. King was aided by its performance from the free throw line, going 23-of-31 including an 11-of-14 performance from Ellington.
