WINTER PARK, Fla. – In what turned out to be a low-scoring affair, 14th-ranked Rollins College was able to hold off the Eckerd College women's basketball program in a Saturday afternoon contest at the Alfond Sports Center, 57-46.
Junior guard
Rana Thomas scored a season-high 15 points for the Tritons (7-5, 1-2 SSC) while a student-athlete with Eckerd family ties, Sarah Taylor, netted 20 points for the Tars (13-2, 3-1) as they won their fifth straight.
Taylor, the younger sister of former Eckerd men's basketball point guard Woody Taylor (2008-2013), netted 15 of her game-high 20 in the final period as the Tars slowly pulled away by shooting 50 percent from the floor to offset first-half shooting woes.
Eckerd was coming off its first Sunshine State Conference win earlier this week on the road against Florida Southern College. The Tritons entered the afternoon as winners of four of the last seven in the recent series history against Rollins as a defensive struggle quickly rounded into form early in regulation.
The Tars entered the afternoon permitting opponents to shoot just over 29 percent on the field, a number that ranked tops in the SSC and second nationally.
The first 20 minutes of regulation produced a 19-19 tie as the Tritons went into the locker room with momentum following a buzzer-beating three at the top of the key launched by point guard
Kayla Bowlin.
Bowlin picked the pocket of Jone' Akins as Rollins tried to get the final shot of the first half. A hesitation crossover trouble from the junior shook Akins loose past midcourt and Bowlin freed herself for the open look.
Bowlin finished with 10 points while senior forward
Liga Vente finished with five points and matched her career high with 14 rebounds. Senior guard
Amy Buccilla extended her streak from long range, making at least one three-point field goal in every game this season as she ended with nine points.
Thomas scored the first five points of the second half with a three and a reverse layup as the Tritons dictated the tempo out of halftime.
But the 5-0 Eckerd/Thomas run was countered by a game-changing Rollins' streak as Taylor started to heat up from the floor.
In a 17-4 RC run spanning 6:47, the Tritons committed six turnovers and missed five of seven shots from the field as the tide turned in the favor of the Tars.
After being held out of the scoring column in the first half, RC's leading scorer Sarah Blackburn scored her first basket of the game with a three and the Tars grabbed their first double-digit lead with 10 minutes left in regulation.
The Tritons would creep to within single digits on several possessions, but couldn't string enough made shots together to make a serious run down the stretch.
Taylor shot 8-of-14 from the floor and ended up filling the stat sheet with three assists, three steals and three rebounds.
The Tritons return to their home floor in the McArthur Center as they prepare to play host to the University of Tampa on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Eckerd won two of three meetings against the Spartans during the 2012-13 campaign.
