PEMBROKE, N.C. – The Barton women's basketball team (14-15) rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Converse (9-19), 64-56, in the first round of the 2025 Atlantic Casualty Insurance Conference Carolinas Championship Sunday night at the Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court and the English E. Jones Center.
The Bulldogs were the ninth seed in the championship while the Valkyries were seeded tenth. Barton will now face host UNC Pembroke (21-7), the fourth seed, on Monday beginning at 5:00 p.m
Barton junior guard
Lauren Mingo (Clinton, Md.) had an outstanding game – finishing with 27 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists – as the Bulldogs rallied from a 31-19 deficit at the break to avenge an earlier regular season loss to the Valkyries.
Converse defeated Barton by an 81-52 score on Saturday, February 15, in Wilson Gymnasium. The Valkyries were led by Tatiana Brown (Virginia Beach) with 21 points in the losing effort.
The Bulldogs scored 45 points after the break and outscored the Valkyries by a 23-8 margin in the decisive third quarter.
With the score tied at 53 at the 3:09 mark of the fourth quarter, Mingo scored what proved to be the game-winning lay-up and started a 6-0 run and Barton held the advantage the rest of the way.
Barton freshman guard
Celeste Bailey (Virginia Beach, Va.) and junior forward
Dasani Williamson (Fort Myers, Fla.) added nine points each as the Bulldogs connected on 17-of-20 free throw attempts (85 percent) with Mingo hitting all nine of her shots from the charity stripe.
