ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd women's basketball team led by 18 points in the third quarter, but was unable to hold off a late Spartans rally falling to the University of Tampa, 57-54, Wednesday night at the McArthur Center.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Tampa 57, Eckerd 54
Records: Eckerd 3-2 (1-1 SSC); Tampa 3-3 (2-0 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- A slow start to the first quarter saw the teams trade baskets for the first four minutes. With under six minutes left, Octavia Loll laid in a basket that led the Tritons on a six-point run to take an 8-3 lead. With just over a minute left, Loll stole the ball and sprinted through the lane for a basket. She drew a foul on the way up and completed the 3-point play as Eckerd went up 14-6 heading into the second period.
- Mya Giusto dropped in a triple for the Spartans to start the second quarter and Tampa followed with another layup. Mikayla Kuehne answered with a triple that sparked a 9-0 run over the next two minutes. A Julia Ingram 3-pointer ended the run for the Spartans. Loll added another triple for EC before Kris Nelson answered with a 3-pointer for the Spartans as Eckerd still maintained a nine-point lead. Loll and Abby Whiteye both laid in baskets to send the Tritons into halftime with a 30-17 lead.
- Nelson kicked off the third period for Tampa with a triple. Zoe Richards answered with a layup sending EC on a 12-4 run -where Richards scored 10 of Eckerd's 12 points- giving the Tritons their largest lead of the game with 18. Melijah Sullivan laid in a basket to end the run and start an 8-0 Spartan stretch as they pulled within 10 points to end the third quarter.
- The two teams traded points to start the fourth quarter until a layup from Ingram sparked a 15-3 run for Tampa over the next five and a half minutes. Eneritz Larranaga laid in a basket to end the stretch, but a triple from Nelson cut the Triton lead to one point. Dori Nagy drained a 3-pointer giving Tampa a two-point lead with only a minute remaining. Richards followed with a basket that was answered by a layup from Sullivan. A driving layup by Loll with three seconds left tied the game at 54-54, but Lashay Wright-Ponder went down the floor and scored the go-ahead layup with 0.8 seconds left, and Nagy sent in a free throw to seal the win.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Richards led the Tritons with a season-high 19 points while Octavia Loll added a season-high 16 points.
- Loll recorded a season-high three steals.
- Abby Whiteye led EC with a season-high nine rebounds while Richards, Loll, and Kuehne all recorded five rebounds apiece.
- Eckerd shot 47.9 percent from the floor, while Tampa shot 48.9 percent.
QUOTABLE
"This was a tough loss for our team. We certainly did a lot of good things to take a commanding lead, but we made too many mistakes in the final 10-12 minutes to give it back. I'm looking forward to seeing how this team responds to an emotional loss," said head coach
Paul Honsinger. "We have teachable moments to talk about tomorrow that should help us moving ahead."
UP NEXT
Eckerd is back in action this Saturday as they host Barry at 2:00 PM in the McArthur Center.
