No. 23 Tritons Pay Back Embry-Riddle with 65-46 Win

Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd women's basketball team hasn't lost very often in the 2016-17 season.

However, on Wednesday night, the Tritons had a chance to avenge one of those rare losses and did so in convincing fashion, overcoming a slow start to post a 65-46 win over Embry-Riddle in the McArthur Center.

The Eagles edged Eckerd (16-3) in the first meeting between the teams on November 19, holding on for a 66-64 win in Daytona Beach.  After the first nine minutes of tonight's game, ERAU looked primed to hang another loss on the Tritons' record.

A hot-shooting start saw the Eagles open an 18-10 lead with 48 seconds left in the first quarter, making seven of their first nine shots from the floor.  Eckerd, however, pulled within five by the end of the quarter on Mariam Hannoun's buzzer-beating jumper, and completely shifted the game's momentum when the second quarter began.

"In the beginning, we brought help into the post and they knocked down some open shots," said Eckerd head coach Paul Honsinger.  "Once we settled in, our team defense got stronger."

So did the offense.  Starting with the end of the first quarter, the Tritons went on a 17-2 run to take a nine-point lead with 3:30 left in the half.  Victoria Vine had eight points during the run and Eckerd drew fouls while attacking the rim, going 7-of-8 from the free throw line.

The Eagles (13-5) finally managed to slow EC's momentum, narrowing the gap to five points before the Tritons took a 33-26 lead into halftime.

The slowdown was, however, only temporary as Eckerd opened the second half on a 15-4 run to push its lead to 18 points with 3:57 to go in the third quarter.  Embry-Riddle never truly threatened from that point on, trailing by double digits for the remainder of the game.

Eckerd held ERAU to its second-lowest point total of the season while limiting the Eagles to 39.1 percent shooting and forcing 22 turnovers.

"We executed our defensive goals well tonight over 40 minutes," Honsinger said.

Vine and Kacie Juday led the Tritons' offensive effort with 16 points each while Ada Yalcin added 13.

Eckerd got some help tonight as well in the SSC race as both Florida Southern and Tampa lost, extending EC's lead in the conference to a game over FSC and 2.5 games over Tampa.

The Tritons travel to face Barry University on Saturday at 2:00 PM.