Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Even saddled with foul trouble, the Eckerd women's basketball team was still in a good position late in the game to pull a senior night upset over Florida Southern.
Unfortunately for the Tritons, their rally fell a little short on Wednesday night in the McArthur Center as the Mocs escaped with a 67-62 win in the final home game of the season for EC.
One look at the final box score tells the major factor in the outcome of the game - free-throw shooting. Florida Southern was 22-of-27 from the foul line while Eckerd was just 3-of-6. Along with the free throw differential came foul trouble for Eckerd, which had one player foul out and three more finish the game with four fouls.
Those issues neutralized a defensive effort that saw the Tritons hold FSC to 32.8 percent shooting in the game and 24.0 percent in the second half.
"Our defense was strong in the second half," EC head coach
Paul Honsinger said, "but we sent them to the line far too much. We were outscored 15-0 at the free throw line in the second half, and that proved to be the difference."
It was enough of a difference that the Mocs (22-4, 11-4) were able to pull out the win despite making only one field goal in the fourth quarter. Their cause was aided greatly by going 9-for-10 from the free throw line during the quarter including 6-for-6 in the final 30 seconds.
Eckerd (12-12, 6-9 SSC) still had a chance with under two minutes to play, twice holding possession of the basketball trailing by three. Both times, the Tritons came up empty and eventually had to start fouling to stop the clock.
As has been common in the McArthur Center this season, EC started off hot and jumped out to an 18-9 lead at the 3:23 mark of the first quarter. Shortly thereafter, the team hit a seven-minute scoring drought and saw its nine-point lead turn into a seven-point deficit as the Mocs scored 16 unanswered points.
A jumper by
Mariam Hannoun ended the cold spell, and the Tritons stayed within striking distance for the rest of the game but couldn't quite get over the hump.
Honsinger had plenty of praise to give to his two seniors,
Margaret Sundberg and
Kaitlin Jackson, who played their final games in the McArthur Center.
"It was great to honor them and have their families here to support them on their big night," he said. "They are two special people who will move forward to accomplish great things."
Sundberg led Eckerd with 15 points, her eighth time to score in double figures in her last 10 games.Â
Kacie Juday posted her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
The Tritons wrap up the regular season on Saturday with a visit to Barry University for a 2:00 PM tip-off.
