MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The Barry Buccaneers dropped a heartbreaker 68-62 to the Florida Tech Panthers in Sunshine State Conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night in the Health & Sports Center.
The Bucs (15-7, 7-5 SSC) fell behind early, but forged a six-point lead, 50-44, near the end of the third period. But in the fourth quarter, Barry hit on just 3-of-14 shots and the Panthers pulled away for the win.
After Ines Kerin tied the game for the Bucs at 52-52 with 8:15 left to play, the Panthers out-scored Barry 9-1 over the next six minutes to build a 61-53 edge. Barry came back and trimmed it to three points twice, on Kerin's three-pointer at 0:47 second left and on a Kim Flournoy jumper at 0:15, but could get no closer.
The Panthers (16-6, 10-3 SSC), as they did in Melbourne, dominated on the glass, out-rebouding the Bucs 47-34, including 21-6 on the offensive glass. That led to a 23-3 edge in second-chance points.
Julie McCarthy was a big culprit in that, leading FIT with 16 points and nine rebounds. DeLise Williams and Diamond Cooper each added 13 points and six boards.
Kerin led Barry with 14 points, while Amra Elezovic had 13 and Ivana Vuletic had a season-high 12 points.
The Bucs travel to Nova Southeastern on Saturday, Feb. 13 to face the #13th-ranked Sharks in the University Center at 2:00 pm.
