Tritons Set Program Record in Win over Flagler

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd women's basketball team celebrated its final contest of 2016 by setting a new program record.

The Tritons (10-2) held off a barrage of 3-pointers by Flagler (Fla.) College on Friday afternoon, pulling away in the second half to post their eighth consecutive win after a 77-62 victory in the McArthur Center.

The outcome created a new high-water mark for the program for the longest winning streak, breaking the previous record of seven set during the 2014-15 season.

"This team has earned their streak," said EC head coach Paul Honsinger.  "They have consistently given a great effort and executed our game plans well.  They are a focused group."

Eckerd, however, had to fight for the record-setting win against a Flagler team that spent much of the game making shots from the outside and staying close enough to never make a second-half Triton lead feel truly comfortable until late in the game.

The Saints, who came into the afternoon shooting a little better than 24 percent from 3-point range for the season, far exceeded their previous performance early in the game.  After Bri Roberts banked in a 3-pointer on Flagler's first shot of the contest, the Saints followed by draining their next three attempts and jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead.

Eckerd responded with 10 unanswered points but Flagler came right back with back-to-back 3's from Roberts and Alex Alford, then scored the final four points of the first quarter to take a 22-21 lead.

An 11-2 run to open the second quarter followed, extending FC's lead to 33-23 with 5:34 left in the half.

The Tritons, though, turned the tables quickly with a 15-0 run as Flagler began to cool from the perimeter and Eckerd began to heat up.  Anna Deegan drained a pair of 3-pointers during the run and Ada Yalcin knocked down a long jumper while Brooke Juday and Kacie Juday did damage inside.

Roberts converted a pair of free throws with seven seconds in the half to break the Triton scoring run and send EC into the halftime break with a 38-35 lead.

Eckerd slowly added to its lead in the second half before finally gaining separation during the fourth quarter on the heels of four straight 3-pointers, taking a 15-point lead with under three minutes to play thanks to a 12-4 run.

The Saints (2-7), who shot 9-of-18 from behind the arc in the first half, went just 1-of-8 in the second half while Eckerd went 6-of-15.

"I was happy with the adjustments we made as a team at halftime," Honsinger said.  "We were much more aggressive on their shooters and we did a much better job on the boards." 

The Tritons got a stellar performance from Deegan with 19 points and 10 rebounds - both career highs at Eckerd - while going 5-of-9 from 3-point range.  Kacie Juday also set a new career high with 15 rebounds to go along with 17 points.  Ashley Folsom rounded out EC's double-digit scorers with 17 points.

"Kacie and Anna brought the energy and toughness we needed defensively," said Honsinger.  "I thought they were a great spark for us."

Eckerd returns to Sunshine State Conference play next week, traveling to provisional member Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday before returning home to host Barry on Saturday.