WILSON, N.C. – The Barton women's basketball team (8-6, 4-2) fell behind early and couldn't recover in a 68-56 loss to Lees-McRae (9-4, 6-2) Saturday afternoon at Wilson Gymnasium.
The Bobcats' Nadiya Hairston (Winston-Salem, N.C.) led all scorers with 17 points while Sydney Gueterman (Charlotte, N.C.) added 13 points as the visitors jumped out to leads of 21-4 and 40-21 at the end of the first quarter and halftime, respectively, in the triumph.
The Bobcats scored the first 11 points of the game and led by as many as 24 points – 56-32 with just under nine minutes left – on their way to a third straight victory.
Barton senior guard
Lauren Mingo (Clinton, Md.) tallied a double-double – 14 points and 10 rebounds – but the Bulldogs hit just 33 percent (22-of-65) of their shots and scored 10 points combined in the first and third quarters, respectively.
Barton did cut the margin to 12 points – 60-48 with 2:26 left in the game – but the deficit was too great to overcome. Lees-McRae also hit seven of their eight three-pointers in the first half to jump out to the big early lead.
Barton remains at home to take on Francis Marion in a conference contest Wednesday evening at 5:00 p.m., while Lees-McRae faces King on Wednesday in a league affair starting at 5:30 p.m., in Bristol, Tenn.
