LAKELAND, Fla. – Despite shooting 50 percent and coming back from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter, the Eckerd women's basketball team lost a heartbreaker at No. 24 Florida Southern Wednesday night in double overtime.
Eckerd trailed for the entirety of regulation until just before the buzzer as
Chelsea Johnson rattled home a jumper in the lane with 0.6 seconds left, tying the game at 64-64 and forcing overtime.
The Tritons pulled ahead, 69-66, in the first overtime period before Florida Southern tied the game. Johnson had another chance at the buzzer but her shot was blocked by Anja Fuchs-Robetin. Turnovers then plagued Eckerd in the second overtime, giving the ball up six times leading to an 11-1 FSC run that sealed the win.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Florida Southern 85, Eckerd 78 (2OT)
Records: Eckerd 15-6 (9-5 SSC), Florida Southern 17-3, (12-2 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- Eckerd faced an uphill battle during regulation, struggling to get going offensively as Florida Southern opened the game with eight straight points and led by 11 at the end of the first quarter.. The Tritons slightly closed the gap in the second quarter but still trailed by eight at the half. FSC then extended its lead to 16 points with 6:42 left in the third quarter before Eckerd came to life. The Tritons outscored the Mocs, 21-6, in the remainder of the quarter pulling within three points.
- Eckerd stayed close to FSC in the fourth quarter pulling within one point on three occasions. The Tritons, who had made three buzzer-beaters already this season, were in position for another one trailing by two with 11 seconds left. After two Mocs fouls, Johnson took an inbounds pass and drove into the lane, making a runner that rattled around the rim before dropping through the cylinder with 0.6 seconds left. FSC advanced the ball to midcourt and nearly scored on the inbounds pass, but a tip by Fuchs-Robetin came up short.
- The Tritons briefly took the lead in overtime on a Kacie Juday jumper but FSC quickly evened the score and the remainder of overtime went back and forth. Eckerd held a slight edge within the final minute as an Ada Yalcin basket put the Tritons up by two. The Mocs quickly evened the score at 72-72 on two Anja Fuchs-Robetin free throws with 42 seconds left. Neither team was able to score the winning basket in the final 40 seconds as the game went to double overtime.
- Eckerd again scored the first points of overtime on two Juday free throws. The Triton offense went cold, however, as the Mocs went on an 11-1 run and the Tritons committed six turnovers in the final five minutes.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Juday (16 points, 13 rebounds) and Zoe Richards (23 points, 11 rebounds) both posted double-doubles in the loss. Juday's double-double was the eighth of the season and third in as many games. Juday also added a career-high six assists. Richards' double-double was the first of her career and her 11 rebounds were a career-high.
- Juday played the entire 50 minutes in the game. It makes the second time in her career she has played the entirety of the game. The other was last season against Nova Southeastern (Jan. 18, 2017). Yalcin and Johnson also played 49 and 47 minutes respectively in the marathon of a game.
- Eckerd shot 50 percent in the game marking the fourth time this season they have shot at 50 percent or above.
- Eckerd had a season-high 26 turnovers and the Moccasins scored 30 points off those turnovers.
- Despite the loss Eckerd, remains in third place in the SSC standings.
QUOTABLE
"I was very proud of our team and how hard we competed tonight. We defended well in the second half and in overtime to give ourselves a chance. It was a good game, hard-fought from our end." - EC head coach
Paul Honsinger
UP NEXT
Eckerd continues SSC action hosting Lynn Saturday afternoon at 2:00 PM.
