RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.—The Barry University women’s basketball team dropped a 55-51 decision to the Tampa Spartans in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Regional Tournament on Friday evening.
Tampa’s 88 percent from the charity stripe was the difference maker as they connected on 21 of 24 attempts. In comparison, the Bucs hit just 68 percent: 13-of-19.
The teams were evenly matched throughout the opening minutes of the first half. The Bucs and Spartans were back and forth until Tampa (26-4) took a one point lead, 12-11, off a Taja Greene layup with 5:49 remaining in the first half. From that point, the Spartans went on an 12-4 run in the final minutes of the first to enter halftime with a 24-15 lead.
The Bucs (21-10) forced nine turnovers in the first half, but only earned four points off the Tampa mishaps.
At the 15:39 mark in the second half, the Spartans took a 33-18 lead off a Taja Green field goal. The lead was their largest of the game. Yet The Bucs fought back, going on a 10-0 run capped off by a Tilde Ahlin three-pointer to cut the Spartan lead to 33-30.
The Spartans held slim lead until the 5:23 mark when Shanna Suttington hit a deep three to give the Bucs their first lead since the 5:49 mark of the first half, 41-39. Over the next 3:36 seconds, the Spartans and Bucs were tied four times before Gianna Messina hit a 16-foot jumper to put Tampa on top 52-50.
On the next possession, the Buccaneers converted one of two free-throws to go down 52-51, but could do little down the stretch as the Spartans went on to win by four.
For the Buccaneers, Mariesa Greene had 12 points and nine rebounds. Christina Thompson, Tilde Ahlin, and Shanna Suttington had eight apiece. Greene and Thompson both fouled out in the final two minutes.
In the second half, the Bucs shot 60 percent from behind the three-point line, 40 percent from the field, and 80 percent from the charity stripe. Yet it wasn’t enough to overcome the team’s first half struggles. In the first half, the Bucs were 21 percent from the field and 15 percent from the free-throw line, and 25 percent from three-point range.
The Bucs wrap up their season with a 21-10 overall record, their highest win total since the 2000-01 season when they went 21-9. Their appearance in the South Regional Tournament was their third in school history and the first for head coach Bill Sullivan.
Newspaper Box Score
Barry vs Tampa
3/12/10 9:00 p.m. at Russellville, AR (Tucker Coliseum)
At Russellville, AR (Tucker Coliseum)
TAMPA 55, BARRY 51
BARRY (26-4)
GREENE, Mariesa 3-10 6-8 12; THOMPSON, Christina 3-8 0-0 8; AHLIN, Tilde 3-8
0-0 8; SUTTINGTON, Shanna 3-11 0-1 8; O'MALLEY, Tara 1-7 4-6 7; HICKS,
Adrienne 1-3 3-4 6; HOUSTON, Yvonne 1-1 0-0 2; TIJANI, Nadia 0-1 0-0 0;
LOPEZ, Jennifer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-51 13-19 51.
TAMPA (21-10)
COOK, Tiara 4-8 12-13 20; GREEN, Taja 4-9 2-2 11; MESSINA, Gianna 3-8 1-1 8;
MITRYK, Caitlyn 2-6 2-2 7; SMITH, Kamari 1-3 2-2 4; GUIU, Angela 1-2 0-0 3;
MESSINA, Catriana 0-1 2-4 2. Totals 15-37 21-24 55.
Barry............................ 15 36 - 51
Tampa......................... 24 31 - 55
3-point goals--Barry 8-23 (THOMPSON, Christina 2-5; SUTTINGTON, Shanna 2-6;
AHLIN, Tilde 2-4; HICKS, Adrienne 1-1; O'MALLEY, Tara 1-5; LOPEZ, Jennifer
0-2), Tampa 4-12 (GUIU, Angela 1-2; GREEN, Taja 1-3; MITRYK, Caitlyn 1-1;
MESSINA, Gianna 1-4; MESSINA, Catriana 0-1; SMITH, Kamari 0-1). Fouled
out--Barry-THOMPSON, Christina; GREENE, Mariesa, Tampa-None. Rebounds--Barry
28 (GREENE, Mariesa 9), Tampa 33 (COOK, Tiara 8). Assists--Barry 11
(O'MALLEY, Tara 3; SUTTINGTON, Shanna 3), Tampa 12 (GUIU, Angela 4). Total
fouls--Barry 21, Tampa 15. Technical fouls--Barry-None, Tampa-None. A-276
NCAA D-II South Region Tournament