ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ohio Dominican University made a late push inside the final five minutes of regulation to hold off the Eckerd College women's basketball program on Saturday afternoon in the McArthur Center, 58-51.
The Panthers (3-1, 0-0 GLIAC) snapped a 49-49 tie, the fourth of the contest, with 4:58 remaining and made enough free throws down the stretch to seal a back-and-forth affair against the Tritons (5-2, 0-0 SSC) to conclude the EC Thanksgiving Classic.
Madi Rittinger scored four straight points to put ODU ahead by five in the final 90 seconds as Eckerd misfired on its last eight field-goal attempts.
Rittinger netted 15 to share the team lead in scoring with Kacee Hockenberry while Rachael Torey had 10.
Eckerd senior forward
Liga Vente had 17 points and junior guard
Rana Thomas finished with 12.
Ivana Grbic and
Amy Buccilla both recorded seven while
Kayla Bowlin scored six and handed out five assists in all 40 possible minutes on the floor.
With Eckerd coming into today's game outrebounding opponents by an average of 14 boards per contest, the Panthers controlled the glass with a plus-12 margin that led to nine second-chance points.
Eckerd managed to connect on four three-point field goals at key junctures in both halves.
After jumping out on top of the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon with a 13-0 run yesterday, EC fell behind early as Ohio Dominican opened hot with a 7-0 run.
The Tritons took their first lead of the game as Buccilla knocked down a three with 7:11 left in the first half and EC scored the final four points before the break to cut into a six-point deficit.
Early in the second half, Rittinger converted from long range to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game at eight, but the Tritons countered with an 8-0 run to lock the game up at 35-35 with over 13 minutes left to play.
Thomas drilled a three of her own to tie the game for the third time at 46-all and Vente cashed in on another longball shortly to give the Tritons the lead, one that turned out to be the last advantage for EC.
The Tritons finished the tournament 1-1 after beating P.R.-Bayamon in wire-to-wire fashion and Ohio Dominican rebounded after a loss against Florida Southern College on Friday.
The Tritons will have plenty of time to rest and prepare for their next game, a road contest slated in Lake Wales on Saturday, Dec. 7, against Warner University at 2 p.m.
