ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd women's basketball team looks to defend its first national ranking while the men aim to claim first place in the Sunshine State Conference on Saturday when the Tritons host Barry University in SSC action.
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ABOUT THE BUCS: After winning 19 games last season, graduation gutted the Barry roster. Â The team's top six scorers from a year ago are now gone, and the Bucs have struggled to adapt thus far. Â Barry has dropped four straight games coming into Saturday's matchup and will be anxious to snap the skid and move a step closer to .500 in conference play. Â Newcomer Lauren Seyranian leads the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game. Â Kiara Palmer, who returned to the lineup on Friday against Rollins (Fla.) after missing eight games, averages 11.4 points per game. Â Elin Ekdahl, the only Buc to start in all 13 contests, also averages in double-figures with 10.2 points per game. Â Barry ranks last in the conference in scoring average (55.6) and in field goal percentage (37.7 percent).
SETTING RECORDS: The Triton women set two new records over the last few days. Â On Friday, Eckerd established a new program mark for consecutive wins with its eighth in a row in a 77-62 defeat of Flagler (Fla.) College. Â The win broke the previous record of seven in a row set in 2014-15. Â Then, on Tuesday, the Tritons received the first-ever national ranking in program history coming in at No. 15 in the D2SIDA Media Poll. Â Wednesday's win at Palm Beach Atlantic extended the winning streak to nine.
JUDAY FINDS A WAY: The performance of junior
Kacie Juday has played a big part of Eckerd's success this season. Â The transfer from Stony Brook (N.Y.) averages 15.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 59.6 percent from the floor. Â She is also the best in the SSC at drawing fouls, topping all players in both free throws made (68) and free throws attempted (85).
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ABOUT THE BUCS: Despite losing SSC Player of the Year Yunio Barrueta along with sharpshooter Anders Haas and inside presence Tray Leonard, the defending South Region champion hasn't missed a beat. Â Barry comes into today's game ranked No. 10 in both the NABC and D2SIDA polls and only has one blemish on its record, a 99-93 overtime loss at Saint Leo. Senior Adrian Gonzalez has exploded on offense, averaging 22.8 points per game in just 26.7 minutes per game and shoots a blistering 69.0 percent from the floor. Â Point guard Elvar Fridrikkson dishes out 8.2 assists per game while averaging 14.3 points per contest. Â Three others - Sawyer Glick (13.3), Arie Williams (11.3) and Daniel Mortensen (10.1) - also average double-digits to give Barry one of the most balanced and dangerous offenses in the league. Â The Bucs average an SSC-best 96.7 points per game.
10 AGAIN: With Wednesday's 83-74 win at Palm Beach Atlantic, the Tritons won their 10th game in a row for the second straight season. Â It's the third time in the last seven years that Eckerd has put together a winning streak that reached double digits.
CAREER NIGHT: Sophomore
Drushaun McLaurn had a career night on Wednesday, scoring 30 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in the win over the Sailfish. Â The Jacksonville, Florida, native leads the Tritons in scoring with 15.3 points per game and is second in rebounding with 6.8 per game.
ON THE RISE: Long-range threat
Kevin Walsh canned five more 3-pointers on Wednesday, moving into a tie for third place all-time at Eckerd in career 3's made with 183. Â Walsh has knocked down 46 triples this season and is shooting 49.5 percent from behind the arc. Â At his current pace, Walsh will have a chance to break the program's career record of 220.
