Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Sandy Jenkins scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for a double-double, Emily Huber added 18 and Ave Maria University held off a late rally against the Eckerd College women's basketball team on Wednesday to win on the road, 65-60.
EC freshman
Rana Thomas scored a team-high 12 points in a reserve role to lead four Tritons in double-figures.
Amy Buccilla also contributed 11 off the bench while senior guard tandem
Kati Rausberg and
Taylor Young each scored 10.
The Tritons (1-1, 0-0 SSC) suffered their first loss of the year against the NAIA-affiliated Gyrenes (4-1, 0-0 USCAA), who shot 48 percent from the floor in the second half. Even though Eckerd connected at a 36.7 percent rate in the final period, Ave Maria made just one more field goal than the Tritons in the final 20 minutes of play.
Despite a perfect performance by the Tritons at the free throw line (11-of-11), Ave Maria had more than double the amount of EC charity-stripe attempts and held a 42-37 advantage on the glass.
The Gyrenes led by as many as 11 in the first half after a three by Cassie Kreiger at the 5:57 mark, but the Tritons whittled the deficit down to a manageable three-point margin thanks to some instant offense in the form of Thomas.
Thomas dialed long distance for a trey on her first shot of the night and on the next possession, drove the lane and made a tough bankshot against the heart of the Gyrenes' interior defense. She ripped the cords again from deep with 28 seconds before the intermission.
Thomas scored eight points in seven minutes of action on the court in the first half.
After trailing by just three at halftime, the Tritons came out and made their first three shot attempts to highlight a 7-0 run to grab a 29-25 lead.
Young cashed in on a three to knot things up at 25-25 and a go-ahead jumper from Rausberg and layup by freshman
Emilie Hesseldal had EC on the verge of building some separation with a 29-25 lead.
But five straight free throws turned the lead right back over to Ave Maria and represented the beginning of a 9-0 spurt. Ave Maria would push that advantage up to 16 after a bucket by Jenkins in the paint, but the Tritons wouldn't fold.
Rausberg, making her first appearance of the season, made two free throws to make it a single-possession game with 1:27 remaining, but Jenkins' height allowed her to corral a pair of offensive rebounds and prolong some AMU possessions as precious time ticked away.
Young drained two free throws with 19 seconds left to go, but Jenkins snared an offensive rebound off a free-throw miss by Huber and was fouled on the putback.
The Tritons are off for a week until resuming their regular season in the Eckerd College Thanksgiving Classic. EC is slated to face the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon along with Queens (N.C.) University on Nov. 25-26.
