Box Score WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 2, 2024) - A hot start and a strong finish helped the Rollins Tars wrap up their regular season with a 73-69 win over Barry on Saturday. The win moves Rollins to 13-3, 10-10 SSC. The Buccaneers wrap up their year 9-19, 4-16 SSC.
Rollins was on fire in the first quarter, shooting 67% from the floor and a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line to take a 26-11 lead. Aaliyah-Irizarry-Perez and
Grace Alfieri each scored six points while limiting the Bucs to 25% shooting from the floor.
After the high-scoring first, things slowed down in the second, including a 2:30 stretch where neither team put points on the board. After Barry whittled the lead down to single digits, Irizarry-Perez scored on two straight possessions to push it back to eleven. A free throw from
Ajalon Gillard was the final point of the half as Rollins took a 39-31 lead to the locker room.
Barry scored the first seven points of the third to make it a one point game. Once again, it was Irizarry-Perez putting a halt to ehr un with a three from the corner, followed by a layup from
Erin Leigh and a three from
Lucy Leen. The Tars would maintain a small lead, but received a nice boost from freshman
Faith Newton, who had seven in the third.
Rollins looked to have the game in the bag, going up by as many as eleven in the fourth. However, the Buccaneers chipped the lead down to 65-64 with just over two minutes to go. Newton knocked down one of two free throws at the 1:30 mark, and then nailed a huge three off a feed from
Claire Erickson with 55 seconds to go to put Rollins up five. Solid shooting from the line in the last minute helped the Tars hang on for a 73-69 win.
Irizarry-Perez had a great all-around game, finishing with 13 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Newton was the leading scorer for Rollins with 15 points.
The win, coupled with Eckerd's win against Palm Beach Atlantic set the bracket for the SSC Tournament. Rollins will be the #5 seed and travel to St Petersburg on Tuesday to take on the #4 Tritons in the first round of bracket play.
Before the game, the coaching staff honored the three seniors ...
Erin Leigh,
Grace Alfieri, and
Lucy Leen ... before their final home contest.
