ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd women's basketball team faces another important contest on Saturday with a visit to Tampa as the Tritons battle to climb in the conference standings.
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ABOUT THE SPARTANS- After a slow start to the season, Tampa has become one of the hotter teams in conference play since the calendar turned to 2016. The Spartans are 6-2 since January 6 including a dominating 71-45 win over then-No. 10 Nova Southeastern. Both of their conference losses in 2016 have been in close fashion, by four and three points respectively.
- The Spartans have leaned heavily on defense this year, leading the conference allowing 57.6 points per game. They are also tops in the SSC in defensive field goal percentage, holding opponents to 35.6 percent shooting on the season - a hundredth of a percentage point ahead of Eckerd.
- While stingy with allowing opponents quality shots, Tampa has done a good job on the other end of the floor in creating high-percentage looks. The Spartans rank second in the conference in field goal percentage (45.0) and in 3-point percentage (37.3).
- Juliana Cavallaro is one of the SSC's most dangerous scorers, averaging 14.3 points per game. She's scored in double figures in each of her last seven games. Cavallaro has only been held scoreless once this season - by Eckerd in the first meeting on December 5.
ABOUT THE TRITONS- Eckerd is coming off an important win over Rollins on Wednesday, holding off a second-half charge by the Tars for a 65-61 win in the McArthur Center. The win moved the Tritons alone in fifth place in the SSC standings, one game behind Barry and a half-game ahead of Tampa.
- Senior
Margaret Sundberg has been one of the hottest players in the conference in her last five games, averaging 15.2 points per game over that stretch while shooting 50.0 percent from both the floor and from 3-point range. She scored a career-high 22 points in Wednesday's win over Rollins.
- Along with Tampa, Eckerd is one of the top defenses in the SSC. The Tritons rank third in scoring defense (59.8), second in defensive field goal percentage (35.7 percent) and second in defensive 3-point percentage (29.5 percent).
- Sophomore transfer
Kacie Juday has been a force on the boards this season for the Tritons. The Tipton, Indiana, native is second in the conference averaging 7.0 rebounds per game and tops the SSC in defensive rebounding with 5.1 per game. She has posted three double-digit rebounding games this season, including 11 on Wednesday against Rollins.
LOOKING BACKThe Tritons put together one of their best defensive performances of the season to blow past the Spartans, 66-38, on December 5 in the McArthur Center. Eckerd held UT to just 27.8 percent shooting from the floor and 2-of-18 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, EC knocked down 10-of-20 3-pointers on the way to the win. Sundberg led all scorers with 14 points.
