ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Yvonne Houston scored off an alley-oop feed from Shanna Suttington with two seconds left as Barry knocked off Eckerd on the road Saturday, 63-62.
In a game that was tight the entire second half, Barry saved its best heroics for the closing seconds to win its eighth road game of the season. The Bucs and Tritons battled to 14 lead changes and six ties in a back-and-forth game worth the price of admission.
The Buccaneers (16-8, 10-4 Sunshine State Conference) close the regular season with two home games this week, beginning with No. 9 Rollins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Health & Sports Center.
Tasheema Lewis scored down low, and Jen Mitchell drained a three-point goal with 4:48 left to give the Buccaneers a 53-51 lead before Taylor Young hit a runner to tie it for the Tritons. Lewis scored on a dish from Danielle DeBerry and then hit a baseline jumper to beat the shot clock buzzer, giving Barry a three-point lead.
Eckerd (13-10, 6-8) tied the game on Taylor Young’s three-point play, and went up 60-57 on Linsey Niles triple at the 1:45 mark. Mitchell forced a turnover, which led to Danielle DeBerry’s transition basket that cut the Tritons lead to 60-59.
Lewis finished with eight points and two blocks. Houston scored 18 points and had eight rebounds and two steals. Suttington had eight points and seven assists. Mitchell scored nine. Krystal Charles had 16 points, and Kati Rausberg 14 for Eckerd.
Barry trailed by four five minutes into the second half before Mitchell knocked down a jumper from the free throw line to cut it to 36-34. Houston buried a three from the top of the key to keep the Bucs within two , and then she hit another field goal on the next trip down the floor to tie it at 41-41.
Lewis, who battled hard down low in some critical second half minutes, hit a baseline jumper with just under 10:00 left, and Mitchell canned a shot from the wing to give Barry a 45-44 lead. Taylor Bestry’s triple put the Tritons ahead by four, but Suttington drilled a triple of her own as the shot clock wore down to pull Barry within one.
Barry led by as many as 15 in the first half, but Eckerd stormed back to take a 31-30 lead into the break.
The Bucs shot 42.4 percent from the floor, hitting 25 of 59 field goals. The Tritons were 19 of 47 for 40.4 percent. Both teams grabbed 33 rebounds. Barry was 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Eckerd sank 18 of 25 free throws.