ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd College women's basketball program threw an early scare into fourth-ranked Nova Southeastern University before eventually succumbing to a second-half rush to begin the Sunshine State Conference schedule on Saturday in the McArthur Center, 69-50.
In a tale of two halves, the Tritons (6-4, 0-1 SSC) led by as many as 14 in the first half while shooting 50 percent before the undefeated Sharks (10-0, 2-0 SSC) controlled the tempo in the second half.
In the final frame, NSU managed to limit the EC offense to four field goals as the Tritons endured a considerable scoring drought trying to protect a nine-point halftime edge.
Still, a shorthanded Eckerd squad was able to relatively slow down the torrid pace of the nation's top shooting team and a program that was averaging over 93 points per game (third nationally) -- today's outcome amounting to 30 points below NSU's season average.
"I'm really proud of my team today," said EC Head Coach
Paul Honsinger, who guided the Tritons to a 7-4 record in the past five years against NSU coming into today. "I thought we played really hard. I thought we played great defense at times, especially in the first half."
The Tritons made six of nine tries from long distance in the first 20 minutes, riding the hot hands of deadly senior sniper
Amy Buccilla.
Additionally, the offense was able to mix it up with a variety of ball screens and effective cutting action to manufacture baskets inside. Defensively, the Tritons were heady and drew a number of offensive charges from their opponent.
Consecutive threes by Buccilla and freshman
Victoria Vine keyed a 10-0 EC run as the Tritons nearly doubled up the Sharks, 29-15, with nearly 11 minutes elapsed in regulation.
"The majority of the shots that I got in the first half was solely from our offense," Buccilla said. "We had drives where Nova (Southeastern) had to step up and close off the gap and send two defenders to the ball."
But after a basket made by junior guard
Kayla Bowlin at the 5:28 juncture in the first period, the Tritons' offense went cold.
A driving layup with the left hand by junior
Rana Thomas eight minutes into the second half ended a combined 17-minute span without an Eckerd point.
The Sharks engineered what would become an insurmountable 28-6 run as the Tritons misfired on 23 of 27 shot attempts in the final frame.
Nova Southeastern ended up outscoring Eckerd in the second half, 41-13.
The Tritons deployed a total of six players and managed to stay out of foul trouble as senior
Liga Vente netted a dozen points to go with 13 rebounds. Buccilla scored all of her 11 in the first half and Bowlin finished with 10.
NSU's Taylor Buie paced all scorers with 18 points while Jasmine Wilkins (16), Danielle Robinson (13) and Richelle Carach (12), rounded out the double-digit scoring for the visitors.
The Tritons will look to break into the conference win column on Wednesday evening with a trip to Lakeland to face Florida Southern College. EC and the Mocs will tangle in the Jenkins Field House with a 5:30 p.m. scheduled tip.
