No. 16 Tritons Finish Strong, Fend Off Panther Upset Bid

Box Score MELBOURNE, Fla. - For the most part this season, the Eckerd women's basketball team hasn't found itself in many close contests by the time the game reaches the fourth quarter.

Tonight, the No. 16/18 Tritons showed that they still know what to do when they do encounter a tight situation.

Eckerd (18-3, 11-1 SSC) closed the game on a 12-1 run to pick up a 67-52 win at Florida Tech and maintain its lead in the Sunshine State Conference.

"I was pretty happy with our execution tonight," said EC head coach Paul Honsinger.  "We had great looks at the basket throughout the fourth quarter but struggled to finish at the goal.  Despite our late offensive struggles, we continued to defend and rebound, and I thought that was the key."

The Panthers trailed by 12 at the beginning of the final quarter after a 3-pointer by Anna Deegan, but pulled within four points with 6:20 remaining following a pair of free throws by Delise Williams.

FIT (9-10, 4-8 SSC) then had two opportunities to further close the gap after the Tritons missed 3-pointers on their next two trips, but couldn't capitalize.

Eckerd did, however, after Kacie Juday grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback, converting a traditional 3-point play.

After a pair of defensive stops, the Tritons drew fouls and made good at the line to extend their lead to 11. Moments later, Chelsea Johnson put the final nail in the FIT coffin with a 3-pointer, giving EC a 14-point advantage.

As has become customary this year, Eckerd got off to a quick start building a 17-4 lead in the first quarter.  FIT, however, cut the deficit to seven by the end of the frame and never let the Tritons put the game out of reach until the end, despite the fact that EC built several double-digit leads throughout the night.

But Eckerd didn't break when the Panthers threatened late in the game, showing the poise of a nationally-ranked team.

Four Tritons scored in double figures led by 17 from Deegan.  Kacie Juday (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Victoria Vine (11 points, 10 rebounds) both posted double-doubles while Ashley Folsom added 10 points, all in the first half.

The work of Vine and Juday on the boards helped Eckerd hold a 44-28 advantage on the glass over one of the SSC's top rebounding teams.  The Tritons also held FIT under 30 percent shooting for the second time this season in handing the Panthers only their second home loss.

"We rebounded great, especially when we needed to most in the last five minutes," Honsinger said.

Eckerd returns to the floor on Saturday to host Rollins at 2:00 PM.