ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Led by three players in double figures and a 16-point lead at halftime, the Eckerd College women's basketball program defended its home court with a key victory against Florida Southern College on Wednesday evening, 56-53.
With 13.9 seconds on the clock, junior guard
Kayla Bowlin stepped to the line and converted a pair of throws that led the final margin of victory.
Three timeouts were called in the final five seconds as Florida Southern's final look from beyond the arc was offline by Ali Sanders in an attempt to tie and force overtime.
Bowlin scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half as the Tritons (9-12, 2-9 SSC) completed the regular-season sweep and stopped a team that was trending upward in the Sunshine State Conference standings.
After starting the league slate 0-9, the Mocs (7-15, 2-10 SSC) had assembled back-to-back SSC wins against Lynn University and Barry University before coming to the McArthur Center.
Senior
Liga Vente led the way with 13 points offensively for Eckerd while junior
Rana Thomas, coming off a career-high 23-point effort on Saturday vs. No. 15 Rollins College, recorded 10 of her 11 in the first half as the Tritons opened up a sizable advantage.
Today was the annual game the Tritons wore pink uniforms to help support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund in the fight against breast cancer.
With six more conference games remaining in the regular season, head coach
Paul Honsinger was pleased with what he saw from his squad as positioning for seeding in the upcoming SSC Championship continues.
"I think our first half set the tone," he said. "I thought we were moving the ball well and had a nice inside-out game. I thought our defensive was very strong early -- our zone was good to get a few turnovers and that really worked well for us in the first half."
The Tritons shot nearly 47 percent from the field by the break as they opened up the game on a 13-7 run, capped by a three from Bowlin at the top of the key.
After a Cashala Thompson three at the 7:44 mark in the opening period, the Tritons went on a 16-3 run to close the first half. EC held the Mocs without any points for the final four minutes before the intermission.
A 9-0 run by the Mocs early in the second half featured a three-point play and back-to-back triples netted Sanders and Thompson as the lead was cut to five.
Vente and senior
Amy Buccilla each made respective baskets to push the lead back to double-digits at different junctures in the second half, but with three minutes remaining on the clock, neither team had an advantage as a 50-50 tie developed late.
Eckerd worked the paint to cash in on layups from Vente and junior
Ivana Grbic, offsetting another Thompson three as she finished the game with 12.
The Tritons are back on the road to finish up the week at Barry University in Miami Shores on Saturday afternoon.
