Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A hot-shooting Nova Southeastern team was too much for the Eckerd Triton women's basketball squad to match on Saturday afternoon as the Tritons fell to the No. 17/20 Sharks, 83-64.
NSU (22-4, 13-2) entered the day needing a victory to clinch the regular-season Sunshine State Conference title, and wasted no time in putting itself in a position to do so. The Sharks used a 13-1 run to build a 29-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, putting Eckerd in a very difficult hole out of which to climb.
After the Sharks extended their lead to 20 early in the second quarter, the Tritons stormed back with 12 unanswered points to make it 35-27 with 2:50 left in the half. However, NSU's Christen Prasse broke the run with a 3-pointer and EC was unable to cut the deficit under 10 points the rest of the way.
Nova Southeastern took a 13-point lead into halftime, then blew the game open with a 12-0 run to start the second half. Eckerd (12-11, 6-8) managed to pull back within 19 late in the third quarter and within 18 late in the fourth but could get no closer.
"I thought Nova played very well today," said EC head coach
Paul Honsinger. "We made a couple of runs to offset their hot shooting but we never put our offense and defense together."
The Sharks built the early lead by knocking down 7-of-11 3-pointers in the first half and shooting 53 percent from the floor while Eckerd managed to shoot just 34.5 percent in the half.
Margaret Sundberg had an outstanding game for Eckerd, tying her career high with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and 5-of-6 from behind the arc.Â
Anna Deegan was the only other Triton to reach double figures, scoring 10 points.
The Tritons head into the final week of conference play in sixth place in the SSC standings. The team returns to the floor on Wednesday hosting Florida Southern at 5:30 PM.
