Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Eckerd junior guard
Ashley Lutz led all scorers 20 points, including her 1,000th career point, but the Nova Southeastern Sharks (10-12, 3-8 SSC) would steal the show, defeating the Eckerd Tritons (7-12, 1-9 SSC) after a three-pointer by NSU's Abbie Tepe with five seconds left gave the Sharks a 54-53 victory on Saturday afternoon at the McArthur Center.
Lutz becomes the seventh player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau and now has 1,006 for her career.
In the first half, the Tritons got of to a blazing start, jumping out to a 17-6 lead with 15:07 left after a pair of free throws by
Taylor Young. After the Tritons would maintain the 11-point lead, the Sharks would close the half with a 12-3 run to trim Eckerd's lead to 29-27 going into the half.
In a second half that featured seven lead changes, the Tritons led by as much as nine, 36-27, as Lutz hit on a nifty layup with 18:01 to go to reach her milestone. Unfortunately for Eckerd, the Sharks would go on a 15-4 run at that point to take a 41-40 lead on a layup by LaShawnna Edwards with 12:17 to play.
Eckerd would go up 50-47 down the stretch after
Krystal Charles hit a layup with 2:59 to go and would hold a 53-51 lead after a made free throw by
Stephanie Grace with 17 ticks left.
After an NSU timeout, however, Tepe would put the Sharks ahead for good, knocking down a three from the right wing with five seconds to go. Lutz would drive to the bucket one last time before being stripped of the ball on her way up, sealing the victory for NSU.
For the game, Eckerd out-shot NSU by a hefty 41.7 to 28.6 percent advantage but were out-rebounded, 48-38. Charles scored 12 points off the bench while Young added seven points and nine rebounds. Edwards led NSU with 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Eckerd will return to the hardwood on Wednesday, February 10 as it hosts Florida Southern at 5:30pm
