MELBOURNE, Fla. – Barry put together a strong second-half comeback bid, but the Buccaneers couldn’t get over the top.
The Buccaneers lost to host Florida Tech, 59-52, Saturday at Clemente Center.
It was a game that witnessed 16 lead changes and three ties in a nip-and-tuck affair, featuring a series of runs.
Junior guard Colette Eule’s three-pointer with 12:22 left gave the Buccaneers a 38-37 lead before Florida Tech’s Kayk Wilson answered with one of her own on the next possession. Tech (15-4, 7-2 SSC) increased its lead to eight with an 11-2 run before two Eule free throws at the 7:35 mark end the Panthers’ spurt.
Trailing by eight, Barry coach Bill Sullivan opted to switch to a 2-3 zone. His move paid off as the Bucs forced five straight stops on the defensive end to trigger an 8-0 Buccaneers run. Dominique Dixon scored off a steal in transition to tie the game at 48-48 with 5:31 remaining.
Eule scored with 1:16 left to pull Barry (10-8, 2-7) within three. But the Panthers sank four straight free throws down the stretch to wrap it up.
Barry shot 18 of 56 from the field for 32.1 percent. Florida Tech hit 40.4 percent of its shots, going 23 of 57. The Buccaneers outrebounded the Panthers, 40-35.
Florida Tech outscored Barry, 32-16, in the paint. The Panthers scored 15 points in transition to the Bucs’ six.
Barry took a 28-27 lead in the second half on Kaley Howard’s basket just inside the 16-minute mark. That completed a 7-0 run as the Bucs’ took their first lead of the second half. But Tech responded when Rosie Hynes scored on the next trip down the floor.
Barry was 11 of 11 from the free throw line.
Howard had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Eule finished with 14 points and nine boards. Dominique Dixon scored nine points, had eight rebounds and three steals. Jackie Perez was 3 of 5 from beyond the three-point arc, finishing with nine points and five rebounds.
FLORIDA TECH 59, BARRY 52
BARRY (10-8, 2-7 SSC)
EULE, Colette 5-19 3-3 14; HOWARD, Kaley 5-7 4-4 14; PEREZ, Jackie 3-6 0-0
9; DIXON, Dominique 3-13 2-2 9; HARDY, Tyler 2-8 2-2 6; JENKINS, Alesha 0-1
0-0 0; PISCONERI, Danika 0-1 0-0 0; FRONTINO, Amanda 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-56
11-11 52.
FLORIDA TECH (15-4, 7-2 SSC)
WILSON, Kayk 5-15 5-6 16; HYNES, Rosie 6-10 3-4 15; GUSTAFSSON, Ida 4-7 0-0
8; SMITH, Peggy 2-5 0-0 6; ACEVEDO, Rita 2-7 1-2 5; STEINERT, Morgan 1-1 1-1
3; DAVIS, BreAnn 1-2 0-0 2; CHAPPELL, Jami 1-5 0-0 2; FLAGLER, Tiesha 1-5
0-0 2; ECHOLS, Melissa 0-0 0-0 0; HAMPTON, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-57
10-13 59.
Barry......................... 21 31 - 52
Florida Tech.................. 23 36 - 59
3-point goals--Barry 5-19 (PEREZ, Jackie 3-5; DIXON, Dominique 1-7; EULE,
Colette 1-6; FRONTINO, Amanda 0-1), Florida Tech 3-12 (SMITH, Peggy 2-3;
WILSON, Kayk 1-6; GUSTAFSSON, Ida 0-1; CHAPPELL, Jami 0-2). Fouled
out--Barry-None, Florida Tech-None. Rebounds--Barry 40 (HOWARD, Kaley 10),
Florida Tech 35 (GUSTAFSSON, Ida 10). Assists--Barry 6 (DIXON, Dominique 2),
Florida Tech 10 (ACEVEDO, Rita 4). Total fouls--Barry 16, Florida Tech 11.
Technical fouls--Barry-None, Florida Tech-None. A-298