Barry's Big Game Helps Providence Rise Above L-Way Central

It was a "Barry" special night for Providence.

Providence Catholic senior center Danielle Barry scored a career-high 29 points in the Celtics' 61-44 victory over Lincoln-Way Central Monday. And she was as suprised as anyone.

"I wasn't necessarily going for 29 points," Barry said. "It's just kind of happened."

The Celtics (7-3) demonstrated their dominance early, building a 7-2 after a three-point shot from senior guard Megan Hettinger. The Knights (2-4) retaliated with a three-pointer from senior guard/forward Kim Rietveld to make it 7-5. But Providence pulled out to a 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Knights threatened again in the second narrowing Providence's lead to 15-13. But then Barry landed back-to-back-to-back shots to put the Celtics up 20-13. Lincoln-Way Central's Rachel Post, a sophomore guard, ended the half with a three-pointer making it 24-16. 

Providence kept its momentum going into the third quarter, taking a 36-21 lead off a three-point shot from senior guard Emily Persak. The Celtics maintained a 39-27 lead at the end of the third. 

Another shot from Barry improved Providence's lead to 47-27 early in the fourth quarter. But Lincoln-Way Central was not about to go down easily. A three-point shot from Post and back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard Amanda Gagilano made the score 55-42. But it just wouldn't be enough.

"We didn't have an answer for their post play inside," Lincoln-Way Central coach Loren Hess said. "We didn't do a very good job of playing defense in the post tonight."

Gagliano scored nine points for the Knights, while Post added eight and senior guard Courtney Paarlberg chipped in seven.

Hettinger scored nine points for the Celtics.

"I thought for the most part we played pretty hard," Providence coach Eileen Copenhaver said. "We kept chipping away, chipping away. They had some nice threes at the end to make it look closer. But it was good to have a big game from (Danielle) to help us get through this."

Barry said the Celtics are enjoying the way they've started off their season.

"It's one of the best (seasons) we've had in a long time," Barry said. "We've been kind of on-and-off coming out strong and starting the game off strong. Lately, we've had a couple games that we've come out like that, and I think we're starting to realize how much it does help in a game like this."