Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - As is a customary saying in the Sunshine State Conference, there is no such thing as an easy conference game.
That maxim proved to be the case on Wednesday night as the Eckerd women's basketball team pulled out a 77-72 overtime win over Lynn University in the McArthur Center.
The win got Eckerd (8-5, 4-3 SSC) back on track after two tight losses to nationally-ranked opponents last week, but it didn't come easy against a Fighting Knights (2-12, 0-8 SSC) squad intent on scoring its first conference win.
Thankfully for the Tritons,
Ashley Folsom had a career night with 26 points and came up with some big baskets and free throws when they were most needed.
"Ashley definitely has a scorer's mentality," said EC head coach
Paul Honsinger. "When they went small, we pounded the ball inside and took advantage of that mismatch."
The Knights forced overtime with a buzzer-beating tip-in by Bria Huffman as she sliced in between two Tritons to finish off a miss by Charla Nelson-James.
Eckerd, though, took control in overtime period with defense, holding Lynn to just two points before an inconsequential basket as time expired.
"We did enough to win it," Honsinger said. "Like we told them after the game, if you're not playing well sometimes you just have to will it out. I felt like we did in overtime."
The Tritons also got some big shots from
Anna Deegan, including a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left that put Eckerd ahead by two.
"Anna hit shots when we had nothing else going," said Honsinger. "She was really steady for us tonight."
Lynn led for the majority of the game, using an 11-0 first quarter run to take a lead it would hold for the rest of the half. Eckerd, though, closed within one by halftime thanks to a trio of 3-pointers and a
Victoria Vine layup as time expired.
The second half stayed a back-and-forth battle with neither team leading by more than three points until two
Kacie Juday free throws gave Eckerd a 65-61 lead with 29 seconds left.
But Lynn refused to be put away, getting a big 3-pointer by Maddie Herr soon to be followed by the game-tying tip-in to extend the game to overtime.
Tonight was also a bit of a homecoming for first-year Lynn head coach Julia Huddleston, an Eckerd alumnus who is listed in the Triton women's basketball record books in several categories.
Juday returned to the floor after missing last week and made her presence felt with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Vine added 17 points on 8-of14 shooting while Deegan contributed 11.
Eckerd is back in action on Saturday afternoon, hosting Barry University at 2:00 PM.
