Women's Basketball | 1/31/2004 7:27:00 PM

Box Score MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The Barry Buccaneers overcame a sluggish start to knock off the Tampa Spartans 61-52 in women's Sunshine State Conference women's basketball action in the Health & Sports Center on Saturday.

The Spartans led by eight, 25-17, with 3:27 left in the first period after Vanessa Hubbard sank two free throws. But the Bucs closed the period with a 10-0 run to into the intermission up 27-25. Nikki Collins hit two three-pointers and a layup to cap the run.

In the second half, Tampa (8-12, 2-6 SSC) quickly jumped back on top and led three points after the first five minutes, 33-30, on a three-pointer by Hubbard. The game swung back and forth over the next eight minutes, with five ties and four lead changes.

Hubbard put the Spartans up 48-47 with two free throws at the 7:41 mark, but that would be their last lead. Karla Mast hit a layup on the Bucs' next possession to ignite a 10-0 run that gave Barry (10-10, 5-3 SSC) a 57-48 lead with 1:04 to play and the Bucs hung on down the stretch, hitting four of six free throws in the final minute.

Barry's Collins scored a career-high 17 points to lead all scorers, while Yashica Nesbit added 14 points and seven steals. Shawtavia Mathis led Tampa with 14 points, while Hubbard, Yushonda Morse and Juanita McClinton each had 11.

The Bucs travel to Lynn on Wednesday, Feb. 4 to face the Knights at 5:30 pm.

Newspaper Box Score
Tampa vs Barry
01/31/04 4:00 pm at Health & Sports Center, Miami Shores, FL
At Health & Sports Center, Miami Shores, FL
BARRY 61, TAMPA 52
TAMPA (8-12, 2-6 SSC)
MATHIS, Shawtavia 5-13 0-0 14; MCCLINTON, Juanita 4-16 2-2 11; MORSE,
Yushanda 4-9 3-4 11; HUBBARD, Vanessa 1-6 8-8 11; SKINNER, Jamie 1-4 1-2 3;
OZAWA, Yoshiko 1-1 0-1 2; MCDONALD, Monique 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-50 14-17
52.
BARRY (10-10, 5-3 SSC)
COLLINS, Nikki 5-7 3-4 17; NESBIT, Yashica 6-14 1-2 14; MAST, Karla 4-10 0-0
9; CABALLERO, Vivian 3-7 0-0 6; ALLEN, Daphnee 2-2 0-0 4; CALIPSO, Sabine
2-4 0-0 4; RODRIGUEZ, Yojana 1-8 2-4 4; ZIVANOVIC, Sanja 1-5 0-0 3. Totals
24-57 6-10 61.
Tampa......................... 25 27 - 52
Barry......................... 27 34 - 61
3-point goals-Tampa 6-9 (MATHIS, Shawtavia 4-4; MCCLINTON, Juanita 1-2;
HUBBARD, Vanessa 1-3), Barry 7-15 (COLLINS, Nikki 4-6; MAST, Karla 1-2;
NESBIT, Yashica 1-3; ZIVANOVIC, Sanja 1-4). Fouled out--Tampa-None,
Barry-None. Rebounds-Tampa 25 (MORSE, Yushanda 11), Barry 40 (MAST, Karla
11). Assists-Tampa 8 (HUBBARD, Vanessa 4), Barry 13 (ZIVANOVIC, Sanja 4).
Total fouls-Tampa 14, Barry 16. A-227