Box Score Eckerd-Nova Southeastern Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Coming off a lopsided loss earlier this week, Eckerd College women's basketball coach Paul Honsinger wanted his team to get back to the basics that led his team to a strong start in Sunshine State Conference play.
A near perfect first half on Saturday accomplished that task and then some.
The Tritons made 14 3-pointers and committed a season-low 12 turnovers in a 74-68 win over Nova Southeastern at the McArthur Center.
Kati Rausberg and Ashley Lutz combined for 42 points and nine 3-pointers, as the Tritons (10-5, 4-2 SSC) bounced back from a 38-point loss at Florida Southern on Wednesday.
Rausberg had a game-high 23 points, including seven treys, and Lutz had 19 points and five assists. Freshman Amy Buccilla added 10 points off the bench.
Eckerd held a 40-22 lead at halftime, keyed by holding the Sharks (10-4, 3-2) to 26 percent shooting, while committing just one turnover.
“It was by far our cleanest half of the year,” said Honsinger, whose team has already matched last year's conference victory total. “The key was handling their pressure. Once we got the ball across half-court, I felt really good about us executing our offense.”
The effort came three days after the Tritons committed 11 turnovers and shot just 30 percent in falling behind by 19 points in the opening half at FSC.
“We just got back to our brand of basketball,” Honsinger said. “I do think it says a lot about our team mentally. We didn't lose our confidence. (NSU) did so many different things defensively, and yet we never got shaken.”
Lutz had the hot hand in the first half, scoring 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting. With the game tied at 10-10, the Tritons used an 8-0 run to build a lead and later went on a 9-2 spurt to grab a comfortable double-digit advantage.
NSU shot 57 percent in the second half, but the Sharks could not get the deficit under 10 points until the final 17 seconds of the game.
Rausberg scored 15 points in the second half and was 5-for-8 from 3-point range.
Stephanie Sarosi had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead the Sharks.
The Tritons will continue SSC play on Wednesday at Saint Leo. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., with an audio broadcast available on EckerdTritons.com.
