SAINT LEO, Fla. – The 2021 Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Women's Basketball Tournament presented by S3 Design is set to begin on Tuesday, March 16. The Saint Leo women's basketball team, seeded seventh, is slated to travel to Barry, who is seeded second. The quarterfinal action will tip-off at 5 p.m. in Miami Shores, Fla.
 
Seeds for the 2021 season were drawn at random. Rollins College receives the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the postseason tournament. Barry University (No. 2), the University of Tampa (No. 3), and Palm Beach Atlantic University (No. 4) will host a quarterfinal game in the 2021 championship. Florida Tech (No. 5), Florida Southern College (No. 6), and Saint Leo University (No. 7) round out this year's tournament field.
 
There will be no fans allowed inside facilities at this time. All SSC Tournament games will be broadcasted on the SSC Digital Network.
 
Watch: here | Live stats: here
 
Last Meeting
Saint Leo has already traveled to Miami Shores once in the shortened season. One of the Lions' four games was at Barry back on Wednesday, March 3, where the teams needed an overtime period for a decision. In the end, Barry topped Saint Leo, 80-77. In the overtime loss, Tori Lesko earned a double-double with 18 points and game-high 12 rebounds. Lesko went 7-11 from the floor and 4-6 at the free throw line. Alex Button also had a stellar night, earning a game-high 22 points. The junior shooter went 9-16 from the hardwood and added six boards. Alani Gallagher rounded off the trio of double-digit scorers, putting up 15 points, and added six rebounds.

Barry tallied five scorers in the doubles digits including Harriet Swindells, Dasiah Thornton, and Trinity Bosecker; all of whom came in off the bench. Bosecker recorded 14 points on 7-9 shooting from the field to go along with 12 rebounds and five blocks. Meanwhile, Swindells broke her season-high in points for the third consecutive game, tallying 20 points including a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe. Barry outscored the Lions in bench points 53-5.

Regular Season Stat Leaders
No. 7 Saint Leo Lions (2-2)
Lesko paces the Green and Gold's offense with 15.5 points per game (PPG). She is helped by Button with 13.3 PPG, Kiki McIntyre with 11.3 PPG, Amanda Ulrich with 10.7 PPG, and Gallagher with 10.3 PPG. The deep scoring bench has allowed the Lions to average 77.7 PPG while keeping their opponents to 70.25 PPG. Lesko also leads the team in rebounds, pulling down nine a game. She is supported by McIntyre with 6.0 rebounds per game (RPG). Saint Leo enters the conference tournament averaging 44.3 RPG while holding its opponents to 35.8 RPG.
 
No. 2 Barry Buccaneers (5-5)
Swindells holds the team-high 12.9 PPG average followed closely by Chiara Fusari with 12.8 PPG. Emma Hergot rounds off the Buccaneers' double digit scoring with 10.6 PPG. As a unit, the Bucs average 63.3 PPG while allowing 65.3 PPG. Hergot is the team's leading rebounder with 10.2 pull downs a game. Barry enters the tournament averaging 43.8 RPG while its regular season opponents were able to grab 44.0 RPG.
 
SSC Tournament History:
Barry: 15-25 record - 1x champion - 3x runner up
Saint Leo: 8-29 record - 1x runner up
Tournament Series: 2-1 in favor of Barry
Last Meeting: #3 BU 68, #6 SLU 51 in the 2010 quarterfinals.
 
All-Time Series: Barry leads 47-20 and has won four of the last five and seven of the last ten. Barry is 26-5 in the Health and Sports Center.  

NOTES: Saint Leo is aiming for the program's first-ever tournament championship. The Lions reached the title game in 2013 as the #7 seed, where they fell to Rollins. Barry looks to break a 29-year tournament championship drought. The Buccaneers' only tournament victory came in 1991 but played for the title as recently as 2015.


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.

Keeping Our Lions Healthy & Safe
Saint Leo University Athletics is keeping our student-athletes healthy and safe by following a number of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This includes having student-athletes tested or screened on a regular basis, traveling in smaller groups, holding competitions without fans in attendance, avoiding overnight trips, and wearing masks when not competing. These safety standards meet those set by the NCAA Division II and the Sunshine State Conference President's Council. At Saint Leo University, the COVID-19 Incident Command Team also reviews the teams' safety protocol and monitors adherence on a regular basis.