MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The Barry Buccaneers closed out the home portion of their women's basketball schedule with an emphatic 81-58 win over their arch-rivals, the Lynn Fighting Knights, 81-58 in the Health & Sports Center on Wednesday night in Sunshine State Conference play.
The Bucs (13-14, 5-11 SSC) and the Knights (7-17, 1-14 SSC) traded baskets back and forth in the early going and the Bucs held just a 16-15 lead with 7:46 left in the first half. But a 10-2 run over the next five minutes staked Barry to a 26-17 lead, their largest of the half. The Knights rallied to two points, 26-24, at the break.
Barry grabbed control early in the second period, opening up with a 12-2 run to lead 38-26 with 17:14 left on a jumper by senior Lynae Richardson. Still leading by 12, 48-36 with 11:56 to play, Barry reeled off an 11-2 run to push the lead to 21, 59-38 on a three-pointer by Amra Elezovic. The basket came on an assist from Nyjah Porcher and made her just the second player in Barry history to record a triple-double. She finished the game with 12 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. Karla Mast recorded two triple-doubles in 2004-05, getting 24 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Florida Southern on Jan. 15, 2005 and 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against Eckerd on Jan. 31, 2005.
The lead stretched out to 30 points, 77-47, on a three-pointer by Jackie Perez with 2:28 remaining and the Bucs cleared the bench, though the Knights could one shave seven points in the final two minutes.
Perez led the Bucs with 18 points on six three-pointers. She now has 64 three-pointers on the season, just three shy of Christina Thompson's school record set in 2007-08. Ashley Lutz chipped in with 17 points for the Bucs, who topped the 80-point mark for the second time in three games.
Charla Nelson-James led Lynn with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Tylar Tracy and Tiffani Kerrison each had 12 points.
The Bucs close out the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 28 at Tampa against the Spartans. The Sunshine State Conference tournament begins on Thursday, Mar. 5 at Silver Springs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla. Seeding will be released on Sunday. The tournament final will be carried on ESPN3.
