Box Score DODGE CITY, Kan. -- The Dodge City Community College women's basketball team was cruising when a bucket by Dasia Johnson ballooned the Conquistador lead to 69-51 over Barton with 7:03 remaining in the contest.

The Cougars made a run, however, as a 19-2 stretch for Barton sliced the Conq lead to 71-70 with 1:31 remaining.

However, free throws by Antania Newton, Rachel Slattery and Johnson secured the victory for the Conqs 74-70 Saturday afternoon at the Dodge City Civic Center.

It was DC3's struggles at the free-throw line (the Conqs finished 11-for-22) and turnovers (20) that allowed the Cougars back into the game with Barton scoring 14 of its 21 points in the final period off of Conq turnovers.

But in the end, the Conqs (15-4, 5-3) had enough to hold off Barton (10-9, 2-6).

"We got to do a better job at the line," DC3 coach Mark James said. "If we do a better job, it's probably not going to be that close at the end. But ultimately you want to improve - and you want to get wins. As long as you can continue to get wins and learn from it, that's good. You would much rather get a win and learn from it than having to learn from a loss."

DC3 benefited from a pair of huge games from Newton and Slattery. Newton finished with 25 points (going 6-for-9 from beyond the arc), five assists, three steals and three rebounds while Slattery had 17 points, 19 rebounds, three blocks and two steals

Kyra Fennell also finished in double figures with 12 points to go along with seven rebounds.

It was a back-and-forth first half as the lead changed eight times with DC3 going into the break with a 33-29 advantage.

The score was tied 36-36 early in the third quarter when Newton drained back-to-back 3-pointers in a span of 16 seconds thanks to a Slattery steal - and the Conqs led the rest of the way.

The lead grew to double figures on a bucket by Fennell with 3:31 left in the third to make it 55-45 as the Conqs took a 62-49 advantage into the fourth quarter and held off the Cougars' late charge.

Kilee Harris led Barton with 17 points while Dominique Baker had 15, Jalisa Jones had 14 and Regan Unruh finished with 12.

While the Conqs shot 40.9 percent from the field (27-for-66), the Cougars were a bit worse at 37.2 percent (29-for-78). DC3 dominated the glass, outrebounding Barton, 55-39.

The Conqs host Garden City 6 p.m. Wednesday.