WINTER PARK, Fla. –
Freshman point guard Paris Moore led a trio of Rollins scorers
in double-figures with 13 points and four assists as the top-seeded
Tars eased past fourth-seeded Barry, 67-50 in the first round of
the BlueCross BlueShield of Florida Sunshine State Conference
Tournament.
With the victory, the Tars will meet tourney host, Nova
Southeastern for their semifinal contest, Saturday, March 7.
Trailing Moore were senior Ines
Teuma's 12 points and junior Jessica
Pressley's 10 points. Teuma also finished with 12 boards to
secure her fourth double-double of the season.
Pacing the Buccaneers was Princess Bailey who finished with 17
points as Tara O'Malley came off the bench to drop 10.
Rollins out-rebounded Barry, 54-23 despite committing 10 more
turnovers than the Buccaneers.
The Tars jumped out to 16-point halftime lead after shooting 46.4
percent (13-for-28) from the field and 40.0 percent (4-of-10) from
3-point range in the first frame.
Junior forward Brittainy Daiger opened the game with a 3-pointer
from the left side off the assist from Moore. After forcing Barry
to miss its next three shots, Daiger boarded a Pressley miss and
followed with a lay-in.
Teuma continued the run with a pair of free throws and a lay-in on
the ensuing possession to control an early 9-0 lead with 15:18
remaining until half.
The Buccaneers scored just over the 14 minute mark, but Rollins
countered with a Moore 3-pointer after a skip pass from senior Erin
Kirkwood, which Moore added on with a lay-in on the next trip
down.
Leading by 12 with over 11 minutes remaining, the Buccaneers would
close to eight points on one occasion before the Tars built the
lead back up to double-digits, as they closed out the half on a
12-5 run.
The Tars continued their relentless attack as Pressley scored all
10 points in the second frame including a pair of treys.
Both teams came out of the locker rooms and exchanged buckets to
start the second half. With a 15-point lead at 18:10, Rollins went
on a 10-1 run over a span of nine minutes to build its largest lead
of the evening, 50-26 on a Kourtnie
Berry jumper with 11:23 on the clock.
The Buccaneers couldn't get any closer than 15 points the rest of
the way.
The Tars scored 15 fast break points and out-scored Barry in second
chance points, 16-0.
The Tars and Nova Southeastern will meet, Saturday, March 7 at 2:30
p.m. at the Don Taft University Center at Ft. Lauderdale in the
semifinals of the SSC Tournament.
In the two meetings, the Tars and Sharks split the regular-season
with both teams capturing victories on their home courts. Rollins
secured a 73-53 victory at Warden Arena, Feb. 14, after Nova
Southeastern handed the Tars their first loss of the season, 53-45,
Jan. 17.
