KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Barry University women's basketball team knocked off No. 25-ranked Rollins, 72-61, Thursday in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Silver Spurs Arena.
The No. 7-seeded Buccaneers (14-15) moved on to Saturday's 2:30 p.m. semifinals to play Eckerd (23-6). It is Barry's first trip to the conference semifinals since 2010 when the Bucs beat Rollins, 62-60, in Davie, Florida.
Barry has qualified for the SSC Tournament every year since 1993 and all but three years since joining the league in 1988-89.
"We said all along if we shoot the ball well, we've got a chance, and we shot the ball pretty good today," Barry coach
Bill Sullivan said.
Barry's
Ashley Lutz scored 21 points on six of nine shooting, and was 6 for 6 from the free throw line.
Jackie Perez had 14 points on five of 10 shooting, including four of eight from 3-point range, and had five assists and a block.
"Overall, from top to bottom, we had every player ready to play today," said Perez, who broke a school record for 3-point field goals in a season. "We just had this desire. Coming out and staying consistent the whole game, finishing out and beating them by 11 points was exactly what we planned to do. We planned to stay up the whole way."
That the Bucs did after taking the lead on Lutz's triple with 11:50 to play in the first half. Barry pushed its lead to 11 when Perez broke the school 3-point field goals record, burying her 68
th triple this season with 4:30 left in the first half to put the Bucs up, 28-17.
Perez broke the record she shared with Christina Thompson, who had 67 threes in 2007-08.
"Honestly I forgot about it," Perez said. "I honestly didn't even realize I broke it until after the game, but it just felt good today because all of us were contributing."
Barry shot 53.8 percent in the first half, going 14 of 26 from the field. Lutz went four of four, hitting two 3-pointers for 10 points.
The Bucs held Rollins (21-6) to nine of 30 shooting in the opening half and 34.4 percent for the game. The Bucs outscored the Tars, 10-2, in points off turnovers.
"Rollins is such a good and classy team," Sullivan said. "They have our utmost respect. But again we just made a few shots today, and whenever we do that, we have a chance in most games."
Lutz hit her third triple with 8:39 to go, giving Barry a 60-46 lead. Second-seeded Rollins cut it to 10 when Ashley Losch scored on jumper at the free throw line, but Barry's
Kaylia Richardson answered with an offensive putback on the next trip down the floor.
Lutz's 21 points signalled a career-high.
"They're always telling me to just keep shooting, keep working on my shot and that," Lutz said. "I just felt like it's amazing."
Amra Elezovic's basket at the 3:45 mark extended Barry's lead to 14. Elezovic finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Richardson had 12 points and 10 boards for her fourth double-double this season.
Barry went 11 of 20 from long range. It marked the seventh time this season the Buccaneers have drained 10 or more triples in a game. To do it against one of the league and country's best was more encouraging.
"I just feel like it shows that Barry is here to play," Lutz said.
Rollins, who was paced by Julia Ingler's 14 points, went eight of 31 from beyond the three-point arc.
"To survive for another day," Sullivan said, "we're just ecstatic."
In a season that's been up-and-down, marred by injuries and inconsistency, Thursday's win sure felt good for this Buccaneers team.
"We've been saying all season that on any given night we have more than enough talent to beat any team out there," Perez said. "We have the talent to beat any team out there, and today just proved that. When you just want to play and you play together ... we're here to make noise."
