MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (February 24, 2007) '
Rollins used a huge 16-0 run in the middle of the second half and
held on down the stretch to'defeat Barry 49-45 on Saturday. The
victory gives the Tars a piece of their record 11th Sunshine State
Conference regular season championship as they will share the
2006-07 crown with Florida Tech.
The Tars will enter next week's SSC Tournament as the No. 1 seed
over Tech due to the conference's tie-breaker rules. The title is
Rollins' second straight and seventh in the past nine years.
Senior Larissa McDonough led Rollins (22-5, 13-3) against the
Bucs with 11 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore front-court mate
Ines Teuma had a huge day, putting up 10 points and gathering 10
rebounds, six offensive, while providing the spark to Rollins
second half comeback.
Alex Fernander paced the Buccaneers with 14 points and 15
rebounds while Sandra Jansson netted 11.
The victory avenges the Tars' earlier loss to Barry (13-13, 8-8)
as the Bucs got the Tars 65-50 in Winter Park.
A pair of Jennifer Dyer lay-ups and three points from McDonough
gave the Tars an early 7-2 lead through the first five minutes.
McDonough connected from long range and hit a jumper on the next
trip down the floor two minutes later to push the Rollins advantage
to 12-5. The visitors then went ice cold and a Princess Bailey trey
at the 7:28 mark tied the score at 14. The teams then traded blows
as Jessica Pressley put Rollins back on top with a three pointer,
but Jansson answered with a three of her own on Barry's next
possession. She hit another with 2:09 left in the half and gave the
Bucs a 22-19 lead at the break.
Barry out-scored Rollins 9-4 through the first seven minutes of
the second half and held an eight point, 31-23 lead. Teuma then
took over and scored two put-back lay-ups, was fouled on another
offensive rebound and hit both free-throws to get the Tars back
into the game. The outburst ignited a huge 16-0 run for the Tars,
capped of with a Teuma jumper at 5:29 to give the Tars a 39-31
lead. Barry pulled to within two with 21 ticks left, but Rollins
held on for the victory.
Rollins, for the second straight season, will take the No. 1
seed into the Sunshine State Conference Tournament. The Tars will
tip-off against the winner of Saint Leo vs. Eckerd on Thursday,
March 1 in the quarterfinals. For game times, check the Tars Web
site at RollinsSports.com. All games of the Sunshine State
Conference Tournament can be heard live locally on WPRK 91.5 FM,
Winter Park and worldwide on the Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
#TARS#
