Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After the first three quarters of tonight's Sunshine State Conference Opening Round contest, the Eckerd women's basketball team looked to be on its way to another comfortable victory.
That didn't turn out to be the case as the top-seeded Tritons instead held off a rally by Lynn University to pull out a 70-66 win in the McArthur Center to advance into the conference tournament semifinals.
The win for Eckerd (24-4) set a new program record for the most in a season, topping the previous mark established two years ago.
"I'm proud of our milestone," said EC head coach
Paul Honsinger, "but as a team we have our eyes focused ahead. We are looking forward to the semifinals on Saturday."
It took some work for the Tritons to get there. After a 3-point barrage in the first quarter gave EC a 27-12 lead, Lynn (10-17) settled in defensively and held the Tritons to eight points in the second quarter and slightly narrowed the gap going into halftime.
"We moved to ball very well tonight and knocked down open 3's, especially in the first half," Honsinger said.
The Knights then pulled within nine points in the third quarter, but an 8-0 run to end the period gave Eckerd a 55-37 lead.
That's when things started to get interesting, or perhaps uncomfortable depending on perspective.
Paola Vazquez knocked down three straight 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter, trimming EC's lead to 11. Another 3-pointer, this time from Brekia Henderson, brought Lynn within seven at the 3:34 mark.
It seemed as though Eckerd had weathered the storm after a pair of jumpers by
Victoria Vine and a free throw by
Ashley Folsom extended the lead back to 12 with under two minutes to play.
Lynn, however, had one more run in its system as it tried to keep its season alive.
Vazquez scored five straight points while Eckerd turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions, resulting in the Tritons' lead falling to five.
Missed free throws then helped keep the door open for Lynn. EC went 1-for-2 on back-to-back trips to the line, and a pair of Henderson layups made it a one-possession game (69-66) with four seconds left.
Anna Deegan was fouled on the inbounds pass, needing to make one free throw to seal the game. Deegan missed the first, but calmly drained the second in sending Eckerd to the semifinals.
Deegan led Eckerd with 18 points while Vine added 13 and reached a milestone, surpassing 1000 career points during the second half.
Eckerd advances to the SSC semifinals on Saturday, where the Tritons will face the University of Tampa at noon in the ICI Center at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. The fifth-seeded Spartans outlasted Nova Southeastern on the road tonight.
