ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The No. 22 Eckerd women's basketball team built a large lead in the first quarter, but Embry-Riddle chipped away at that lead in the second half on the way to a victory over the Tritons on Saturday afternoon in the McArthur Center.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Embry-Riddle 59, Eckerd 55
Records: Eckerd 11-4 (5-3 SSC), Embry-Riddle 10-4 (4-3 SSC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Eckerd came out of the gates firing on all cylinders scoring on its first two possessions via a Yarden Dana 3-pointer and an Ada Yalcin layup. Eckerd later went on a 12-0 run midway through the quarter highlighted by a Yalcin 3-pointer and traditional 3-point play by Abby Whiteye. Chelsea Johnson closed out the quarter with a 3 giving Eckerd a 21-8 lead. Eckerd's defense played a major role in the team's early lead, highlighted by four steals in the period.
- Johnson sunk a 3-pointer to open the second quarter and Kacie Juday gave the Tritons its largest lead of the afternoon of 17 points,after a layup at the 6:16 mark. The Eagles then went on an 8-0 run to pull within nine points. The final three minutes of the half were even in scoring as Eckerd entered the half with a nine-point lead, 34-25.
- ERAU began the third quarter with 12 straight points to erase the Eckerd lead before Yalcin drained a 3-pointer to tied the game at 37-37 with 6:14 left in the quarter. The Eagles gained a two-possession lead over the next three minutes but Eckerd ended the quarter on a 6-0 run. Yalcin scored in the final seconds of the quarter giving Eckerd a one-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
- Whiteye scored five straight points to begin the fourth quarter putting Eckerd up by four as the remainder of the quarter would stay tight between the two teams. Two minutes later, the Eagles took a three-point lead using a 7-0 run, but again Yalcin sunk a 3-pointer to tie the game at 52-52 with 5:20 left. The next two minutes went quiet as neither team scored until the Eagles broke the stalemate on a free throw with 3:30 left. As the Eagles held a two-point lead with 1:12 left, Eckerd had a chance to tie at the free throw line but missed both attempts. With 20 seconds left and the Eagles with the ball, Eckerd came up with a big play as Yalcin intercepted a pass on the inbounds but Eckerd turned the ball over and ERAU hit their last-second free throws to close the chance of another buzzer-beating win.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Yalcin led the team with 12 points while Whiteye tied her career-high with 10 points. Yalcin also had three steals and four assists.
- Eckerd shot well in the first half shooting at a 46.4 clip but shot only 26.3 percent in the second half. The Eagles, however, shot 28.1 percent in the first half and 42 percent in the second half.
- This is the first time Eckerd lost back-to-back contests and SSC games since February 20, 2016.
QUOTABLE
"It was a disappointing loss today. We got off to a great start and played very well at times but our offense sputtered in the second half and we were out of sync. We have to put in the work next week in order to bounce back." - EC head coach
Paul Honsinger
UP NEXT
Eckerd looks to bounce back from the loss as they travel to Lynn on Wednesday for a 5:30 PM start.
