SAINT LEO, Fla. –  The Saint Leo women's basketball team defended its home court against the visiting Barry Buccaneers Saturday night, in a Breast Cancer Awareness game. The Lions had three shooters reach double-figures led by Nikira Hooks with 17 points. Hooks completed her double-double with 10 boards. Alani Gallagher notched 13 points while Gina Brierley posted 11 points.

Gallagher added seven boards and a block to her stat line while Brierley picked up four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Day Jackson scored six points on the night where she grabbed four rebounds. It would be Jackson who would pick up momentum for the Lions with back-to-back rebounds followed by back-to-back buckets for the Green and Gold.

Head Coach Anthony Crocitto expressed, "I am very proud of the entire bench and their buy in at practice. My assistant coaches are preparing them for these games and so we know what other teams are doing. It is really incredible to see us the second time around making so many adjustments. Last time, this team embarrassed us in the fourth quarter and was on their way to doing it again but Day Jackson answered their run."

"Hooks for her senior year is all in right now. Three games in a row she has been tremendous."

"Gina Brierley really had to adjustment her game and had all the stats. Our turnover factor was incredible, we only had seven. We scored 28 in the fourth. A lot of things went our way. We made our free throws."

Crocitto continued, "What else can you say about Alani and Savannah stepping up? Madelin having zero turnovers. I could you go all the way down the stat sheet, but, it is the program, it is us. These ladies believe in each other so right now, we are a very good team."

The Basics
Final Score: Saint Leo Lions 68, Barry Buccaneers 61
Location: Saint Leo, Fla. | Marion Bowman Activities Center
Records: SLU (11-14, 6-11 SSC)| BU (15-9, 8-8 SSC)

How It Happened...
1Q | The Lions scored first with a jumper from Madelin Lang before the Bucs went out ahead by three, 5-2 with 7:49 to play. Delaney Bernard hit two three-pointers to help push the Lions ahead 12-5 with 3:42 on the clock. Saint Leo would push its lead to seven, 16-9 after Nikira Hooks capped off her 4-for-4 first period free throw line performance with 22-ticks left. | Saint Leo 16-9 |
2Q | The Buccaneers would cut it to two points three minutes into the second period, 18-16 before Hooks connected on her first three-pointer of the period to make it Saint Leo 24, Barry 16. Hooks' second three would extend the margin to 10 points, 31-21 with a minute to play. Savannah Scott's jumper with five seconds made it an 11-point game before the Bucs made a jumper and free throw to cut it to eight at the break. | Saint Leo 33-25 |
3Q | Barry would use a 17-7 third quarter to take a lead going to the fourth quarter. Scott, Hooks, Jackson and Brierley would score the Lions' seven points as the Green and Gold shooting went cold. The Bucs saw Kiara Palmer score eight points to lead the charge. | Barry 42-40 |
4Q | Down but not out, the Lions scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, behind eight points from Alani Gallagher. Gina Brierley's layup with 8:39 to play pushed the Lions back ahead, but not for long as the Bucs and Lions battled to three lead changes. Ahead by three with 2:39 to play, Delaney Bernard nailed a three-pointer to push it to six, where momentum swung into the Lions' court and allowed the Green and Gold to extend their lead to eight (1:28), nine (0:38), and 10 (0:21) as the Lions went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe down the stretch. | Saint Leo 68-61 |

Points to Note

• The Lions pushed their win streak to three games after defeating Barry 68-61.  
• Nikira Hooks earned a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• Alani Gallagher scored 13 points and picked up seven rebounds in the win as Gina Brierley tallied 11 points.
• Delaney Bernard scored nine points on 3-of-7 shooting from downtown.

For Barry

• Barry falls to 15-9, 8-8 SSC after the road loss.
• Kiara Palmer scored a game-high 19 points while scooping up a game-high 17 points.
• Lexy Schoonover added 11 points off the bench as Stephane Granada closed out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. Barbara Cousino was on the outside looking in with nine points Saturday.

 
Up Next
Saint Leo will travel for its next two games with a trip to Boca Raton on Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. before heading to Eckerd on Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. The Green and Gold close out the regular season with a home game on Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m. against Rollins.
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo women's basketball, be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.