BASKETBALL GAMEDAY: Triton Women Face Tampa in SSC Semifinals

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The quest for another Sunshine State Conference championship continues for the Eckerd women's basketball team today as the Tritons face off against the University of Tampa at 12:00 noon in the conference tournament semifinals.
 

Tampa (17-10, 11-7 SSC) vs. #10/18 Eckerd (24-4, 16-2 SSC)
WHEN	Saturday, March 4 | 12:00 PM
WHERE	ICI Center; Daytona Beach, Fla.
WATCH	Live Video | Live Stats
SOCIAL MEDIA	Twitter (@ECTritons) | Instagram (@EckerdTritons)
LAST MEETING	Eckerd 65, Tampa 58 (2/8/17)

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Both Eckerd and Tampa won tight contests to advance to the semifinals, though Eckerd's game wasn't tight until the end.  The Tritons led by 18 over Lynn at the end of the third quarter but had to fend off a rally by the Fighting Knights for a 70-66 win.  

The Spartans, meanwhile, went on the road and pulled out a 63-60 overtime victory over fourth-seeded Nova Southeastern as Faith Sanders (23 points) and Karma Jeremie (20 points) carried the offensive load.  Nova missed a chance to win in regulation and a chance to tie at the end of overtime.

REGULAR SEASON RESULTS: Eckerd recorded two narrow victories over Tampa to sweep the regular-season series.  In the first contest, the Tritons rallied from a 10-point deficit outscoring UT, 23-9, in the fourth quarter on the way to a 59-51 win.  Victoria Vine carried EC to the win with a career-high 28 points and seven 3-pointers.

The return contest in Tampa on February 8 was equally as exciting and featured another career night, this time from Ashley Folsom who scored 32 points in a 65-58 Triton win.  The game was knotted at 58-58 with 30 seconds left before Kacie Juday's layup gave EC the lead.  The Spartans turned the ball over and were forced to foul, giving Eckerd a seven-point margin of victory.

NOTES AND NUMBERS: Tampa comes into the tournament as the No. 5 seed for the second straight year.  Last year, they won the tournament from that position...The Spartans lost both regular season contests to Nova Southeastern before knocking the Sharks out of the tournament on Wednesday...Eckerd's Victoria Vine surpassed 1000 career points in Wednesday's win over Lynn, becoming the 10th player in program history to reach the millennium mark.  She also became the program's all-time leader in games played with 112...Eckerd and Tampa are among the best defensive teams in NCAA Division II.  Eckerd ranks eighth in the nation in scoring defense (55.2 points per game) while Tampa ranks 11th (55.7)...The Spartans lead the nation in 3-point shooting at 43.0 percent and rank fourth in field goal percentage ar 47.8 percent.  The Tritons aren't far behind in either category, ranking 12 in field goal percentage (45.3) and 13th in 3-point percentage (37.3)...Eckerd is looking to make its first-ever appearance in the SSC Championship game, while Tampa is aiming for its 11th.