Women's Basketball | 3/5/2004 3:40:00 PM
Box Score WINTER PARK, Fla. - Qunisha Rush scored 14 points and Janielle McCullough added 11 to lead the fifth-seeded Eckerd Tritons to a 44-33 victory over fourth-seeded Barry University in the opening round of the Sunshine State Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon in the Alfond Sports Center.
The victory was just the Tritons'third in 18 SSC Tournament games.
"It's indescribable. They're leaving their mark on this program, and now we get another chance at Rollins, if they win tonight," Eckerd head coach Brian Shultes said.
The entire game was a defensive battle, as Eckerd shot just 30% (15-of-50) from the field. Barry struggled offensively, as well, hitting for just 24% (12-of-50) of their field goal attempts.
In the opening period, Barry (14-14) led by as many as seven points, as the Buccaneers jumped out to a 13-6 advantage at the 9:28 mark. By halftime, Eckerd (13-15) would trim the Barry lead to just two points, 20-18.
Barry's lead in the second half would swell to as many as six points, 32-26, with 9:20 to play, but Eckerd would go on a 18-1 run over the rest of the game. The Tritons eventually took a 34-33 lead on a pair of Brett Stone free throws with 1:43 to play. Following a rush jumper that put Eckerd ahead 36-33 with 57 seconds remaining in the game, Eckerd converted nine of 10 free throws in the final 48 seconds to seal the victory.
"We played a great half defensively (in the first half), holding them to 20 points," added Shultes. "We told them what we had to do defensively at halftime. We knew going in it was going to be a defensive battle."
"About halfway in the second half, they just started playing harder," Barry head coach Nicci Hays said. "They played much harder defensively and took the ball to the basket strong."
Jen Ritter added nine points, seven in the second half, and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
"Ritter did a great job of stepping up in the second half getting either a basket, a rebound, or drawing a foul when they needed it," Hays added.
Karla Mast led Barry with 11 points, while Yashica Nesbit and Sanja Zivanovic each scored six points. Yojana Rodriguez recorded a team-high nine rebounds.
The 77 combined points was the lowest in SSC Women's Tournament play, eclipsing the 95 points scored in the 1982 championship game, in which UCF defeated Florida Southern 56-39.
Eckerd will meet the winner of tonight's game between #1 Rollins and #8 Lynn in the SSC Tournament semifinals. Gametime is 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Mar 6. The Buccaneers end their 2003-04 campaign at 14-14 overall and 9-5 in the SSC.
Newspaper Box Score
Eckerd vs Barry
03/05/04 12:00 p.m. at Warden Arena, Winter Park, FL
At Warden Arena, Winter Park, FL
ECKERD 44, BARRY 33
ECKERD (13-15)
RUSH, Qunisha 5-14 4-6 14; MCCULLOUGH, Janielle 5-7 1-1 11; RITTER, Jen
2-11 5-8 9; STONE, Brett 2-5 4-4 8; SIAUCIUNAS, Erika 1-3 0-0 2; GAVIN,
KC 0-7 0-0 0; COOK, Meredith 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-50 14-19 44.
BARRY (14-14)
MAST, Karla 3-6 4-6 11; NESBIT, Yashica 3-14 0-0 6; ZIVANOVIC, Sanja 2-8
0-0 6; COLLINS, Nikki 1-8 0-0 3; CALIPSO, Sabine 1-1 0-0 2; WEAVER,
Loren 1-2 0-0 2; CABALLERO, Vivian 1-1 0-1 2; RODRIGUEZ, Yojana 0-5 1-2
1; WIRTH, Alana 0-1 0-1 0; ALLEN, Daphnee 0-2 0-0 0; ROJO, Eva 0-2 0-0
0. Totals 12-50 5-10 33.
Eckerd........................ 18 26 - 44
Barry......................... 20 13 - 33
3-point goals-Eckerd 0-7 (; MCCULLOUGH, Janielle 0-1; RITTER, Jen 0-2;
GAVIN, KC 0-4), Barry 4-17 (ZIVANOVIC, Sanja 2-6; COLLINS, Nikki 1-5;
MAST, Karla 1-2; ALLEN, Daphnee 0-1; ROJO, Eva 0-1; NESBIT, Yashica
0-2). Fouled out--Eckerd-None, Barry-RODRIGUEZ, Yojana. Rebounds-Eckerd
41 (RITTER, Jen 10), Barry 37 (RODRIGUEZ, Yojana 9). Assists-Eckerd 7
(RUSH, Qunisha 3), Barry 7 (ROJO, Eva 4). Total fouls-Eckerd 13, Barry
20. A-187
SSC Basketball Tournament Game 5.
