Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College women's basketball team suffered its first conference loss of the season thanks to a cold shooting night in falling to Florida Tech on Wednesday, 69-49.
EC head coach
Paul Honsinger said his team's performance on one end of the floor affected its performance on the other end.
"We struggled on both sides of the court tonight," he said. "Our offense was very stagnant and I felt that impacted our defense."
While Florida Tech (5-2, 3-0 SSC) didn't exactly torch the nets, shooting just 37.7 percent, the Panthers dominated the rebounding battle and got to the free throw line 27 times. It turned out to be more than enough to build a comfortable cushion by the start of the final quarter.
The Panthers took control in the first quarter with 12 unanswered points, taking an 11-point lead just five minutes into the contest. The lead grew to 16 points with 3:14 left in the first half, but Eckerd (4-2, 2-1 SSC) countered with an 11-2 run to cut the deficit back to seven by halftime.
However, the third quarter proved to be pivotal as FIT out-scored the Tritons, 23-13, thanks in part to a 10-3 run that closed out the quarter. The Panthers then scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take their largest lead of the game at 65-42, and Eckerd was unable to recover.
The Tritons shot a season-low 24 percent (12-of-50) from the field, including 1-of-10 in the fourth quarter. Accuracy from the free throw line, where EC went 22-of-28, helped but it wasn't enough to compensate.
Anna Deegan led Eckerd with 12 points while
Ashley Folsom came off the bench to score 10. Deegan also snagged eight rebounds to lead the team.
Honsinger is anxious for his team to look ahead to its next game as EC hosts Tampa on Saturday.
"I'm hopeful we can bounce back quickly for Saturday's contest and compete at a higher level than we did tonight," he said.
Tip-off for the Sunshine State Conference matchup is at 2:00 PM in the McArthur Center.
