MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team hit the road as they headed down to face Barry University. The Sailfish got off to a slow start offensively before battling their way back into the game but fell 64-61 late to move their record to 8-8 on the season and 4-6 in Sunshine State Conference play.
The Sailfish struggled to buy a basket from the floor in the opening quarter of play tonight. They started out 1-of-15 from the field in the first ten minutes of play and managed four points.
Darria Whitley scored the lone basket and converted on the free-throw for the old fashion three-point play and
Mariyah Fletcher split a pair from the line to complete the early scoring for PBA as they fell behind 17-4 early.
The second quarter was a complete role reversal as the 'Fish stormed back into the game. They outscored the Bucs 25-18 in the quarter and closed the half on an 18-2. Whitley continued to be a threat offensively as she scored eight more points and finished the half with a game-high 11 points.
Kash Ayuso and
Claire Davis came to life and chipped in with seven and six points respectively as shot 9-of-17 from the field. Despite the extended run to close the half, the Sailfish trailed 35-29 at the break.
The two sides played out an even third quarter as PBA hit on 46 percent of its shots from the field and outscored the Bucs by a 17-16 margin. Whitley once again led the Sailfish in the quarter with five of her game-high 18 points while
Ashleigh Boulin provided four points off the 'Fish bench. PBA closed the quarter on a 5-0 run and trailed 51-46 after the third quarter.
After being down by as many as 22 points in the second quarter, the Sailfish came all the way back and took their first lead of the game at the 8:05 mark in the fourth as a
Mariyah Fletcher layup put them up 52-51. Fletcher just missed a triple-double for the 'Fish as she finished with nine points, ten rebounds, and nine steals on the night. The nine steals performance is second all-time in program history.
Both offenses went quiet in the final quarter as the game grounded down. The PBA defense held Barry to 21 percent in the final quarter but managed just 7-of-20 on their own and were 1-of-6 from deep. The game stayed tight throughout as the Bucs regained the lead with a big three-pointer to go up 61-59 with two minutes remaining. Whitley had a chance to answer on a fast break attempt after a steal but lost the ball out of bounds on the way up as PBA's chance for a historic comeback slipped away. Barry iced the game from the line late and came away with with the victory.
The Sailfish follow up tonight's game with another SSC battle on the road as they face Eckerd College. The Tritons are the No. 11 team in the country and are 13-3 on the season. PBA fell to Eckerd 81-57 when the two sides met early this season.
