MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- The Barry Buccaneers get back to women’s basketball action tonight as they travel to Winter Park, Fla., to tangle with the 10th-ranked Rollins Tars at 5:30 pm in Warden Arena. Fans can follow all the action live on the Geico Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
The Bucs were picked fifth in the SSC preseason poll and have started the conference season 1-1. They beat Saint Leo 68-67 in December and fell to Florida Southern 70-67 on the road Saturday. Against the Mocs, Barry trailed by eight at the half and by as many as 17 with nine minutes to play, before staging an furious comeback that just ran out of time at the end. Kaylia Richardson led the Bucs with 20 points and eight rebounds while Jackie Perez added 16 points. Barry committed just eight turnovers in the game and forced 16.
Perez leads the season box score for Barry, averaging 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game. She is second in the conference with 32 made 3-pointers and ranks fifth in assists. Nyjah Porcher is getting 12 points a night while Amra Elezovic scores 10.5 a game. Porcher ranks sixth in the SSC with 6.8 rebounds a game while Elezovic leads the conference in free throw shooting, connecting on 32-of-37 from the line on the year. Richardson, who missed the first seven games with injury, has returned with a vengeance, averaging 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and shooting 54.1 percent from the field in the last five games.
The Tars have ridden a staunch defense during the current four-game winning streak, holding the last three teams under 50 and allowing Lynn just 52 points. On the year, the Tars are surrendering 51.2 points a game to sit atop the Sunshine State Conference and rank fourth in all of Division II. Rollins’ last time out was a 58-42 win at Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday.
Emmalee Schill is the Tars top offensive threat this season, averaging a conference ninth-best 12.7 points per game. She is also eighth in the league in both rebounds (6.6 rpg) and blocks (0.9 bpg). Ashley Losch is the only other scorer averaging in double figures, netting 10.7 a game while leading the team with 7.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a night. Julia Ingler has led Rollins in scoring three times and is averaging 7.7 a game while Jen Farrell adds 5.9 points a night.
Rollins leads the all-time series with Barry 43-17. In the last meeting, however, the Bucs broke the Tars three-game winning streak, handing Rollins a 77-76 overtime loss in Miami Shores on Feb. 22, 2014. Colette Eule hit a 40-foot shot at the buzzer of regulation to send the game into overtime and Ines Kerin drained a triple with 0:07 seconds left in the extra period to give the Bucs the win on Homecoming.
Tyler Hardy paced the Bucs with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Eule added 15 points and six rebounds. Richardson had 19 points and three blocks, while Nyjah Porcher added 10 points. Sarah Taylor led Rollins with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists. Emmalee Schill posted 19 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Ashley Losch with 12 and Jen Farrell with 11 also notched double-figures.