Tritons Shoot Past Saint Leo in Conference Opener

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Of the things that can be taken away from Wednesday night's conference-opening win for the Eckerd women's basketball team, perhaps one of the most prominent is that the squad can learn from the past.

One game after seeing a late lead disappear in a loss to Valdosta State (Ga.), the Tritons didn't let it happened again as they withstood a third-quarter rally by Saint Leo and pulled away for a 68-51 win in the team's first home game of the season.

"We knew what it was like to lose a late lead," said EC head coach Paul Honsinger.  "We did a better job digging our feet in and being stout defensively when we needed to be.  It was good to respond.  When they made their push, we pushed back."

The Tritons (2-1, 1-0) got a 3-pointer from Margaret Sundberg on their first possession and never trailed in the game.  The lead quickly grew to 10 points and eventually to 15 as the first quarter ended.  Eckerd did a little bit of everything well on both ends of the floor, from attacking with balanced offense to making things difficult for Saint Leo to do anything on offense.  The Lions made just 2-of-15 from the floor in the quarter.

"We wanted to take away their driving gaps," Honsinger said, "and I thought we did that.  We did a good job rotating on defense."

The second quarter was more of the same, as the lead extended to as many as 22 points before the teams headed into halftime with a 40-22 Eckerd lead.

However, the Lions (1-2, 0-1) pulled back into the game with a strong finish to the third quarter, going on a 13-3 run over the final 3:26 to make it a seven-point game heading into the final stanza.

Honsinger said the team's execution offensively did not change, but seven missed free throws helped open the door for Saint Leo to make a comeback.

That door didn't stay open long, though, as Eckerd opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run and led by double-digits the rest of the way.

Victoria Vine posted her first career double-double despite foul trouble, scoring 12 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.  Sundberg led Eckerd with 14 points while Kacie Juday contributed 10.  The Tritons limited SLU to 29.5 percent shooting.
 
Eckerd returns to action on Saturday with a visit to provisional SSC member Palm Beach Atlantic at 2:00 PM.