SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Eckerd College women's basketball program engineered a 22-2 run to start and went on a 31-0 stretch to begin the second half to post an impressive victory over Webber International University in the 2013-14 season opener on Thursday evening.
The Tritons (1-0, 0-0 SSC) held the Warriors (1-2, 0-0 TSC) without a point for a stretch of over 10 minutes to begin the final period and stifled the WIU offense to just over 15 percent shooting from the field, including 0-of-25 from long distance.
It also marked the program's highest scoring output since a 98-point outburst against tourney host Saint Leo University in the January of 2008.
EC Head Coach
Paul Honsinger collected career win No. 96 as he began his eighth year on the sidelines against a 2012-13 NAIA national qualifier and reigning The Sun Conference tournament champ.
Eckerd opened the Saint Leo Classic in the Bowman Center by shooting nearly 55 percent from the field and knocked down 11 three-point field goals.
Senior forwards
Liga Vente and
Kristiana Stauere each posted double-doubles as Eckerd commanded the glass with a lopsided 63-25 rebounding edge. Vente made eight of her first nine shots and finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Senior
Amy Buccilla posted a new career-high point total with 16 (eclipsing previous high of 15 vs. Palm Beach Atlantic last year), including four treys, while junior guard
Kayla Bowlin stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists and six rebounds.
Stauere made her first five consecutive field-goal attempts to finish with 13 points while junior
Rana Thomas matched that point total to round out EC's four double-digit scorers.
Junior transfer
Ivana Grbic reeled in a game-high 12 rebounds, freshman
Sarah Ammons contributed six points in her college debut and sophomore guard
Rachel Temple caught fire in the second half with eight points to blaze her comeback trail from ACL surgery, including a pair of treys.
Freshman
Victoria Vine also dished out five assists in her first game.
From the opening tip that was controlled by Vente and resulted in a quick layup for Buccilla, the Tritons didn't let their foot off the gas as the game progressed.
The Eckerd defense bottled up a senior-laden starting lineup starring WIU's Yesenia Lora, who posted averages of 17 points and eight rebounds per game last year. Lora was just 1-of-11 from the floor before starting to find her stride late in the second half.
The Tritons made eight of their first 13 shots from the field to begin the game and led by a 25-point margin two minutes before halftime. EC opened its largest advantage of the game up 56 points near the end to complete a wire-to-wire finish with the lead.
The Tritons will be back on the floor in the Bowman Center tomorrow for a quick turnaround game against Saint Augustine's (N.C.) University with a tip-off scheduled for noon. Live stats and video feed courtesy from SaintLeoLions.com will be streamed during the game.
At the time of release, Saint Augustine's was playing against Saint Leo in the nightcap.
