Tritons Fall to No. 18 Florida Southern, 69-56

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- Despite trailing by 13 at the half, the Eckerd women's basketball team stormed back in the third quarter to pull within five points of No. 18 Florida Southern in the NCAA Division II Showcase at the McArthur Center Wednesday night.

However, Eckerd missed its first four shots of the fourth quarter and was unable to make up the difference as the Triton ultimately fell to the conference-leading Moccasins, 69-56.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: #18 Florida Southern 69, Eckerd 56
Records: Eckerd 18-7 (12-5 SSC); Florida Southern 22-3 (15-2 SSC)

KEY MOMENTS

• Florida Southern got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 7-0 lead before Eckerd got on the board on a traditional 3-point play from Octavia Loll at the 7:09 mark. Yarden Danan sunk a 3-pointer minutes later to close the gap to three points but the Mocs responded with another 7-0 run to pull ahead by 10 before ending the first quarter with Eckerd trailing 19-10.
• A quick 5-0 Triton run to open the second quarter pulled Eckerd within four points but FSC used a 6-0 run minutes later to go back up by 11 with just over five minutes left. The Triton defense held Florida Southern to just one made field goal over the final five minutes of the half as Eckerd entered halftime trailing, 37-24.
• Eckerd used a hot start to the second half to pull within seven after a 6-0 run over the first two minutes of the third quarter. The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes before the Moccasins used a 6-0 run to stretch its lead to 14 points with 2:37 left. The Tritons caught fire and responded with an 11-2 run including back-to-back triples by Loll and Zoe Richards over the final two minutes to close the gap to five and trail 54-49 to end the period.
• The Tritons had chances to pull closer at the start of the final period, but missed four straight layups.  Florida Southern instead opened the quarter on a 10-1 run for a 14-point lead with 5:27 left. The Tritons held Florida Southern again to just one made field goal over the final five minutes of the game but Eckerd was unable to make up the difference in the stretch, falling 69-56.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• Four Tritons reached double figures as Chelsea Johnson led the way with 15 points while Danan added 13 points and Loll and Richards contributed 12 apiece.
• Abby Whiteye and Armi Anttila led Eckerd on the boards with five rebounds each.
• Eckerd held Florida Southern under its season average for the second time this season, holding them eight points below tonight. 
• The loss broke the Tritons' seven-game winning streak.
• Eckerd remains in third place in the SSC standings, a half-game ahead of Nova Southeastern. The Tritons were ranked seventh in the region in the first rankings of the season released earlier today.

UP NEXT
Eckerd looks to bounce back with a trip to Rollins Saturday for a 2:00 PM tip.