ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A strong defensive outing by the Eckerd women's basketball team secured its sixth Sunshine State Conference win as they topped Florida Southern, 68-56, Wednesday night at the McArthur Center.
Abby Whiteye led EC with 18 points and
Maya Price recorded a career-high 14 rebounds for the Tritons.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 68, Florida Southern 56
Records: Eckerd 10-4 (6-2 SSC); Florida Southern 9-7 (6-2 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- Florida Southern's Mackenzie Steele sunk a triple in the opening seconds to put the Mocs on the board early, but Abby Whiteye answered for the Tritons with a layup. The teams traded points with neither able to score more than two consecutive baskets. Eneritz Larranaga hit a 3-pointer to put EC up 11-10 midway through the quarter. The teams continued to trade points, but four straight triples and a layup from Florida Southern gave them a five-point edge at 24-19 to end the first quarter.
- The Tritons opened the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers from Whiteye and Octavia Loll before Steele answered with a triple of her own for the Mocs. A layup from Maya Price sent Eckerd on a 13-5 run over the remainder of the half as the Tritons took a 38-32 lead into halftime.
- Larranaga made back-to-back triples followed by a layup from Zoe Richards to start the third, putting EC up by 14 points for its largest lead of the game. The teams traded points into the final minute of the quarter, but the Tritons scored four unanswered points in the last minute to hang on to their 14 point lead (58-44).
- A free throw from Price and a layup from Whiteye to start the final period kept the Triton lead at 14 points. Florida Southern drained three consecutive 3-pointers in the final four minutes, but Larranaga answered with a triple. The Tritons made four free throws in the last 30 seconds to secure the victory for Eckerd.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Whiteye led EC with 18 points wile Loll and Larranaga added 13 points apiece.
- Maya Price pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds and she also posted a career-high four blocks.
- The Tritons scored 24 points in the paint compared to Florida Southern's six.
- EC recorded 13 points off turnovers while Florida Southern only converted two points.
- The Mocs shot 46.2 percent in the first half but were held to just a 27.5 percentage in the second half.
- The Tritons currently sit second place in the conference.
- Eckerd snapped a four-game losing streak to the Mocs.
QUOTABLE
"I'm very happy for our team tonight," said head coach
Paul Honsinger. "We stuck to the game plan, executed well, and brought a lot of energy on the defensive end. We had multiple contributors on both ends of the floor and rebounded great as a team."
UP NEXT
The Tritons are back on the road as they head to Winter Park, Fla. to take on Rollins this Saturday at 2:00 PM.
