Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. –
Krystal Charles called it the longest shot of her life.
With 4.8 seconds on the clock, the junior forward spun away from her adversary in the post to free herself up for an eight-foot leaner that sent the Eckerd College women's basketball program to a season-opening win against the University of West Florida on Saturday, 60-58.
Time seemed to stand still for the Tritons (1-0, 0-0 SSC) as Charles' shot bounced on the rim twice before deciding to fall through and tickle the twine as a desperation heave by the Argos (0-2, 0-0 GSC) fell short on the other end as time expired.
"I'm just thankful I didn't have to make a three-pointer,” she quipped. “I honestly had no idea if it was going to go in or come back out. That was the first game-winning shot I've ever made.”
Charles' 12-point, nine-rebound effort was just the tip of the iceberg as Danish freshman
Emilie Hesseldal made a splash in her collegiate debut with a game-high 19 points on an array of long-range jumpers and nifty post moves.
Hesseldal joined fellow freshman
Taylor Bestry in the starting lineup for sixth-year Head Coach
Paul Honsinger, who adjusted personnel after returning leading scorer
Kati Rausberg sustained an undisclosed injury in last night's practice.
Rausberg and
Katja Kotnik were both sidelined for tonight's game, leaving Eckerd with nine dressed players.
Honsinger dialed up the perfect play call following a timeout with 21.5 seconds remaining and countered the Argos' zone with a sequence that caught West Florida off guard.
“I was very concerned about shooting at the right time; we know we have great shooters, but we wanted to get a shot off between 8 and 6 (seconds) left on the clock,” he said. “Prior to trapping us, West Florida showed zone and we anticipated they would run it again out of our timeout.”
“I'm very proud of the way our freshmen stepped up in Kati's absence,” he added.
Charles negated a rugged effort in the trenches put forth by Argos' forward Octavia Bearden, who finished with a team-high 18 on 8-of-12 shooting. Charles also put up great numbers in last year's contest in Pensacola, scoring 24 points and hauling in nine rebounds.
The Tritons battled through a combined 13 ties and seven lead changes and after both teams shot efficiently in the first half, Eckerd trailed by one at the intermission, 33-32.
The Argos were threatening to grab a double-digit lead in the second half before a Hesseldal three cut the deficit to four.
Just when it looked like West Florida was gathering a head of steam,
Taylor Young zipped an outlet pass to Bestry, who streaked past the UWF defense in transition to knot things up at 45-45 with nine minutes to go.
Kayla Bowlin made her lone basket count as crisp ball rotation left her alone on the left wing for a trey with 1:30 left that put EC up by one, 57-56.
Young dished out six assists versus no turnovers while operating the offense and Bestry finished with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting while playing 35 minutes on the floor.
The Tritons will continue the regular season at home, playing host to NAIA program Ave Maria University next Wednesday with a 5 p.m. scheduled tip-off.
