MELBOURNE, Fla. – Barry found itself playing catch-up most of the way, but couldn’t overcome host Florida Tech Wednesday in a key Sunshine State Conference game. Florida Tech hung on to beat Barry, 62-56, at Clemente Center.
Barry’s Shanna Suttington scored in transition with 1:07 remaining as the Buccaneers (15-8, 9-4 SSC) cut it to 58-56. Florida Tech’s Kayk Wilson scored at the other end to make it a two-possession game. Barry couldn’t convert on its next three trips down the floor, allowing the Panthers (16-8, 7-7) to escape with a win.
The Bucs, who play at Eckerd Saturday in St. Petersburg, finds themselves in a tie for second place with Florida Southern in the SSC with three games remaining. Barry hosts two games next week, beginning with Rollins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Barry’s Jen Mitchell hit a jumper off the dribble, and Yvonne Houston buried a shot from the top of the key to tie the game at 32-32. Alexandria Zamora scored on a feed from Danielle DeBerry six minutes into the second half as the Bucs grabbed their first lead in a 15:05 span. Houston’s putback a minute later and Zamora’s bucket down low on a pretty feed from Houston gave Barry its largest lead, 38-32, with 11:50 remaining.
The Panthers cut it to one before DeBerry buried a three and Brooke Keeton scored off-glass with 8:49 left on the clock to push the Buccaneers back ahead by six. Keeton converted a three-point play roughly a minute later to give the Bucs a 46-39 lead. Mitchell sank two free throws with 7:23 remaining to extend Barry’s lead to nine.
Florida Tech’s Ita Gustafsson hit two straight shots, Wilson sank two free throws, Briauna Hagins scored in transition and Gustafsson converted a turnover into a Panthers’ basket as FIT regained control, 50-48. Wilson canned a three from the top of the arc, pushing Tech ahead by five before Zamora answered down low on the next possession.
Houston had 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Zamora scored 12 points and had five boards and a block. Wilson had 13 points, Gustafsson 11 and Ashton McClairen 10. Hagins had eight points and 14 rebounds.
Barry fell behind 8-0 4:45 into the game, but stormed back to take a 10-9 lead on Houston’s fastbreak layup at the 11:55 mark. Houston and Colette Eule each hit 3-point goals during the Bucs’ 10-1 run.
Barry hit five of its first 13 shots, finding itself in a one-point hole following the second media timeout in the first half. Hagins scored on two straight layups, the second a putback on an offensive rebound, as the Panthers took a five-point lead.
Kaley Howard scored on a dish in the paint from Zamora 4:15 before halftime as the Buccaneers closed to within 21-20. Florida Tech’s Jasmire Brown scored to give the Panthers a 26-20 lead. Houston sank a pair of free throws, and Eule scored on a layup as the Bucs drew within four by halftime.
Houston had nine points and four rebounds in the first half. Howard hit all three field goals she attempted, while playing nine minutes in the first half. Barry hit 10 of 26 field goals in the opening half. Florida Tech was 11 of 27. The Bucs were outrebounded 21-13 in the first half.
Barry outscored Florida Tech, 32-22, in the paint.