ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd women's basketball team took control early in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament and distanced itself from Lynn with a large run to end the first half Wednesday night at the McArthur Center as the Tritons picked up a 76-55 win to advance to the semifinals on Saturday.
A relatively close game with five minutes left in the first half was anything but by the time the teams went to their locker rooms. The Tritons scored on eight of their last 10 possessions of the second quarter, turning a seven-point lead into a 21-point lead. The Fighting Knights, who defeated Eckerd in St. Petersburg in December, never recovered.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 76, Lynn 55
Records: Eckerd 21-8; Lynn 16-11
KEY MOMENTS
- Lynn jumped out to a 5-3 lead before Eckerd rolled off five straight points to take an 8-5 lead midway through the first quarter. Lynn evened the score at 8-8 one minute later but Eckerd used a 6-1 run followed by a Chelsea Johnson 3-pointer to end the first quarter with a six-point lead.
- The Fighting Knights managed to trim the Tritons' lead to just four points with seven minutes remaining in the half but a quick Abby Whiteye layup and an Octavia Loll 3-pointer put Eckerd in front by nine. Eckerd followed with an 18-4 run over the final five minutes of the half to take a 21-point lead into the break.
- After a quick start to the second half, Lynn managed to cut the deficit to 14 points following a Kelsi Fizer 3-pointer with 4:15 left. Eckerd followed with a 9-2 run over the remainder of the quarter to stretch its lead back to 21 points (44-23).
- Eckerd cruised in the fourth quarter holding a double-digit lead throughout and stretching it to as many as 25 points following a Mikayla Kuehne jumper with 6:48 left before finishing with a 21-point win.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Four Tritons reached double figures with Johnson leading all scorers with 20 points while Zoe Richards contributed 13 points as Whiteye and Kuehne each added 11. Johnson went 8-for-10 from the field and has now scored 20 or more points in seven games this season.
- Eckerd shot 55.6 percent from the floor while holding the Knights to a 39.5 shooting percentage. Eckerd's 55.6 shooting percentage is its third-highest this season and the sixth time this season the Tritons have shot above 50 percent.
- Eckerd advances to the semifinals of the SSC tournament for the third straight year.
UP NEXT
Eckerd will play No. 7 seed Rollins on Saturday at Nova Southeastern in Fort Lauderdale at 2:30 PM.
