WINTER PARK, Fla. – Barry women’s basketball team nearly pulled off a 17-point second half comeback before falling to host Rollins, 55-49, at Warden Arena Wednesday night.
Barry weathered a 15-0 Rollins run to start the second half, putting together a furious comeback bid that fell short after they pulled with two. The Bucs (13-12, 4-11 Sunshine State Conference) went on a 15-0 run of their own to cut the Tars’ lead to 48-46 with 3:42 to play.
But the Tars (17-8, 8-7) woke up after a long lull to hold on. Barry senior guard Dominique Dixon, a University of Detroit transfer, canned a three with 52 seconds left as the Buccaneers drew within 52-49. But Rollins’ Ashley Jones buried a triple of her own at the other end to seal it.
Barry junior guard Colette Eule hit three triples to open the second half, pulling the Bucs within four at the 16:14 mark. Rollins’ 15-0 run to build a 48-29 lead. But the Bucs went on a surge of their own, beginning with Jackie Perez’s baseline jumper. Eule sank two free throws, and then buried her fourth three of the second half to cut the gap to 10.
Kaley Howard’s bucket with 6:07 left pulled the Buccaneers within 48-40 during a stretch when Barry amped up its defense, forcing a series of Tars turnovers to get back into the game. Tyler Hardy scored off an inbounds feed from Perez from under the basket, and Eule’s two free throws made it a one-possession game.
Eule finished with 23 points, marking the sixth time this year she’s scored over 20. She went six of 13, hitting five of nine triples and was 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Hardy had her fourth double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Barry shot 29.1 percent for the game compared to Rollins 35.9 percent. The The Bucs were 11 of 12 from the free throw line with Eule and Hardy the only two Barry players to head to the line.
Barry went 1 for 11 during a seven-minute span in the first half, and found itself down, 29-21, at the break. The Bucs were eight of 31 shooting in the first half. The Tars hit 13 of 30.
The Buccaneers will honor seniors Amanda Frontino and Dixon in Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. regular season home finale at Health & Sports Center when Barry hosts Nova Southeastern.
ROLLINS 55, BARRY 49
BARRY (13-12, 4-11 SSC)
EULE, Colette 6-13 6-6 23; HARDY, Tyler 4-14 5-6 13; DIXON, Dominique 2-8
0-0 5; HOWARD, Kaley 2-5 0-0 4; PEREZ, Jackie 1-8 0-0 2; FRONTINO, Amanda
1-7 0-0 2; JENKINS, Alesha 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-55 11-12 49.
ROLLINS (17-8, 8-7 SSC)
TAYLOR, Sarah 8-14 0-0 16; AARON, Tonya 3-3 0-0 9; JONES, Ashley 3-9 0-0 8;
BLACKBURN, Sarah 3-7 2-2 8; LOSCH, Ashley 3-10 0-2 6; SCHILL, Emmalee 2-7
1-3 5; GILBERT, Marie 1-1 0-0 3; COHEN, Jasmine 0-0 0-0 0; McDANIEL, Tera
0-12 0-0 0; BAILEY, Cassidy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 3-7 55.
Barry......................... 21 28 - 49
Rollins....................... 29 26 - 55
3-point goals--Barry 6-25 (EULE, Colette 5-9; DIXON, Dominique 1-4; PEREZ,
Jackie 0-7; FRONTINO, Amanda 0-4; HARDY, Tyler 0-1), Rollins 6-18 (AARON,
Tonya 3-3; JONES, Ashley 2-5; GILBERT, Marie 1-1; SCHILL, Emmalee 0-1;
McDANIEL, Tera 0-4; BAILEY, Cassidy 0-1; LOSCH, Ashley 0-1; TAYLOR, Sarah
0-2). Fouled out--Barry-None, Rollins-None. Rebounds--Barry 39 (HARDY, Tyler
13), Rollins 44 (TAYLOR, Sarah 7; GILBERT, Marie 7; BLACKBURN, Sarah 7).
Assists--Barry 10 (DIXON, Dominique 3; PEREZ, Jackie 3), Rollins 12 (JONES,
Ashley 5). Total fouls--Barry 8, Rollins 15. Technical fouls--Barry-None,
Rollins-None. A-387