TAMPA, Fla. – Despite a strong first quarter, the Eckerd women's basketball team couldn't hold off a late overtime run from No. 24 Tampa as the Tritons fell to the Spartans, 66-60, Wednesday night at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center.
Eckerd controlled the majority of the game until Tampa used a late run in the fourth quarter to take the lead.
Abby Whiteye came up with a clutch steal and score inside the final minute to put Eckerd in front by two before Tampa evened the score to force overtime. However, the Spartans used a 10-0 run in overtime to take the SSC victory.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: No. 24 Tampa 66, Eckerd 60 (OT)
Records: Eckerd 13-5 (9-3 SSC); Tampa 15-3 (12-0 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- Abby Whiteye laid in a basket to open the scoring for the Tritons, which sparked a 12-2 run over the next four-plus minutes as EC took an early lead. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes until two consecutive layups from Octavia Loll and Eneritz Larranaga in the final minute of the quarter put the Tritons up 22-9.
- The Spartans scored five straight points at the start of the second quarter. Zoe Richards and Mikayla Kuehne answered for Eckerd with back-to-back layups to keep a 12 points lead, but a 7-0 Tampa run cut Eckerd's lead down to five points with three minutes remaining in the first half. A layup from Richards just before halftime gave EC a 31-25 lead heading into the break.
- Richards laid in a basket to start the third quarter, but the Spartans quickly answered with four straight points to trim the EC lead down to four. Larranaga and Richards hit consecutive triples followed by a layup from Mar Ibern to stretch the lead back to 12 points. The teams traded points into the end of the quarter as Eckerd held on to a 44-36 lead.
- The Spartans opened the fourth quarter with an 8-3 run to pull within three. Ibern followed with two free throws for the Tritons, but a 3-pointer from Tampa's Kris Nelson and a pair of free throws knotted the game at 49-49. UT scored five straight points, but a layup from Kuehne and a clutch triple as part of a steal and score from Whiteye gave the Tritons a two-point lead with 51 seconds remaining. Nelson laid in another basket for Tampa to tie the game at 56-56 just seven seconds later. With just eight seconds remaining, Kuehne dribbled into two defenders in the paint for the go-ahead layup, but it bounced off the front of the rim as the teams headed into overtime.
- Loll and Larranaga laid in back-to-back layups for the Tritons as they took a quick four-point lead to start overtime. The Spartans answered with 10 consecutive points over the final three minutes of overtime as Eckerd fell to Tampa, 66-60.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Richards led EC with her third career double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
- Richards' 20 points are a season-high. Her 13 rebounds tie her season-high as well, which she set against Flagler (Dec. 15, 2019).
- Larranaga and Whiteye both added 12 points apiece.
- Eckerd scored 36 points in the paint compared to Tampa's 18.
- UT shot 85.2 percent from the line. The Tritons shot 55.6 percent.
- Despite the loss, Eckerd still sits second place in the conference.
- Larranaga, Whiteye, and Loll all played the entire 45 minutes.
QUOTABLE
"Our effort was excellent tonight on both ends of the court. We played well enough to win, but we came up a bit short offensively down the stretch," said head coach
Paul Honsinger. "Overall I was very happy with how we competed."
UP NEXT
The Tritons stay on the road as they head to Miami Shores to take on Barry Saturday at 2:00 PM.
