Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In a game full of timely defensive stops, the Eckerd College women's basketball program made its final stand count the most.
The Tritons (11-6, 5-4 SSC) stormed back to overcome a 10-point deficit in regulation and brought down Florida Tech (12-7, 3-6 SSC) with a gutsy effort in overtime on Saturday afternoon to complete the regular-season sweep, 72-70.
Junior forward
Krystal Charles scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half, senior guard and current Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week
Taylor Young scored 18 on 7-of-8 shooting and senior guard
Linsey Niles added 15 and nine rebounds.
Senior guard
Kati Rausberg snapped a 67-67 tie with the go-ahead and eventual game-winning jumper with two minutes left in the extra session and the EC defense hounded Ashton McLairen into a difficult shot that would have forced a second overtime.
Freshman guard
Kayla Bowlin nailed a three from the top of the key with inside a minute to play that tied the game 61-61.
A well-executed give-and-go from Charles to a cutting Young gave the Tritons a three-point lead shortly into overtime. McLairen connected from deep to make things all square at 67-all on the next possession.
Niles drove the lane for a layup to put EC up by four and McLairen came through again from long range to close the gap to one.
Eckerd began the game on a 7-0 run spanning the first three minutes before Florida Tech was able to get in sync. The Panthers began 6-of-20 (30 percent) from the floor and misfired on their first four three-point shots.
Young hit a three pointer from the wing in the early stages and drew in a pair of defenders to off an inbounds play to find
Katja Kotnik for a three-point play.
Briauna Hagins helped halt Florida Tech's brief scoring drought with a three-point play as the Panthers engineered a 7-0 run to retake the lead briefly. EC foul troubles allowed the Panthers to take advantage of time in the double bonus and lead, 31-26, at halftime.
Hagins hauled in 12 rebounds in the first half alone and grabbed 15 total.
Rausberg ripped the cords from deep early in the second half and a 7-2 Tritons' run out of the half knotted things up at 33-33. She was the focus of Florida Tech's defensive efforts after erupting for six three-point field goals in Melbourne earlier this year.
McLairen made the Panthers' first shot from deep to key a 5-0 run and Kayk Wilson was timely with Florida Tech's second shot from deep, giving her team a double-digit lead with under six minutes to go.
Another three by Young and a layup in transition from Charles cut the deficit to five with 4:24 remaining.
The Tritons are back on the road next week to begin the month of February, traveling to Nova Southeastern University next Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. contest in Fort Lauderdale.
