WINTER PARK, Fla. -- Barry University women's basketball team couldn't overcome a slow start in a 62-40 loss to No. 7 Rollins College Wednesday.
Barry (9-6, 4-2 Sunshine State Conference) fell two games behind Rollins (14-1, 6-0) in the league race.
The Bucs struggled shooting, hitting 29.8 percent of their shots. Barry built a little momentum in the second half in shooting 40 percent from the floor, but couldn't cut the gap under double digits.
The Buccaneers, who return home to host Eckerd 2 p.m. Saturday at Health & Sports Center in Miami Shores, held all but one Tars player under double figures. But Rollins' Ashley Jones went off for a career-best 30 points on 10 of 12 shooting.
That was the difference in a game in which every other player on the court failed to reach double figures. It was the Buccaneers' lowest scoring output of the season.
Barry's Yvonne Houston hit a runner in the paint, following a Jen Mitchell basket the previous trip down the floor, and Danielle DeBerry canned a perimeter jumper as the Buccaneers opened the second half with a little surge, but still trailed 48-19 less than five minutes after intermission.
Kaley Howard had seven points and six rebounds for Barry, and DeBerry had six. Houston scored five points and pulled down six boards.
Houston buried a jumper off the dribble from the free throw line just before the midway point of the second half, yet the Bucs found themselves in a 30-point deficit.
The Buccaneers were held to 13 first half points after shooting five of 27 from the floor. Rollins led by 23 at the break. Ashley Jones hit six of her school-record eight triples in the first half.
Barry fell behind 17-5 midway through the first half, following a pair of wholesale substitution changes. The Bucs opened the game 2 for 14 from the field before center Brooke Keeton knocked down a jumper. Rollins hit four of their first eight triple tries to build the 12-point lead.
Rollins knocked down seven of 13 threes in the first half for a 53.8 percent long-range effort, which was nearly seven percentage points higher than the Tars' overall field goal shooting clip in the opening 20 minutes. Barry was one of seven from beyond the arc in the opening half -- Jen Mitchell drilling a corner ball inside the last minute. Rollins outscored Barry, 11-3, in first half bench production.
Barry's Jackie Perez knocked down a pair of late-game triples as Barry trimmed a sizable lead down. Perez finished with six points. Mitchell had five points. Rollins' Kristina Mingos grabbed 10 rebounds and had five assists.
The Bucs outscored the Tars, 20-18, in the paint.