ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A 26-point second quarter fueled the Eckerd women's basketball team in a 76-59 victory over Florida Tech Wednesday night at the McArthur Center as the Tritons split the season series with the Panthers.
Octavia Loll led EC, nearly missing a double-double, with 15 points and eight rebounds along with three other Tritons adding double-digits. Eckerd added 24 points off the bench with
Brooke Juday leading the way with 13.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 76, Florida Tech 59
Records: Eckerd 16-5 (12-3 SSC); Florida Tech 11-13 (7-9 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- Zoe Richards laid in a basket to open the scoring for the Tritons inside the first 30 seconds, but the Panthers answered quickly with seven straight points to take an early lead. The teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the quarter as Florida Tech maintained its lead. A jumper from Maya Price and a triple from Eneritz Larranaga brought EC within three points at the end of the first period as they trailed 18-15.
- Eckerd opened the second quarter aggressively as a Mikayla Kuehne jumper sparked an early 9-0 run. The Tritons continued to dominate throughout the quarter with a 20-4 stretch over the first six and a half minutes. The Panthers rolled off five straight points to end the Triton run, but EC recorded six more points before the end of the quarter as they took a 41-27 lead heading into halftime.
- Richards laid in a basket for the Tritons to open the third quarter. The teams went back-and-forth throughout the third, with neither team was able to score more than two consecutive baskets. A triple from Kuehne followed by a layup from Loll maintained a 17 point lead for Eckerd as they entered the final quarter up 57-40.
- Led by Juday's triple, EC started the fourth period with seven straight points as the Tritons took their largest lead of the game with 24 points. The teams traded points through the remainder of the quarter as Eckerd maintained at least a 15 point lead. Juday drained five straight points with time expiring in the fourth as the Tritons collected a 76-59 victory.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Loll led EC with 15 points and eight rebounds. Juday (13), Richards (12), and Larranaga (11) all added double-digits points as well.
- Richards pulled down six rebounds.
- The Tritons had 24 bench points compared to Florida Tech's nine.
- Eckerd shot 50.0 percent from field goal range while holding the Panthers to just 37.7 percent.
QUOTABLE
"I know our team was eager to avenge the loss we had at Tech earlier in the season," said head coach
Paul Honsinger. "I was happy to see us take command of the game in the second quarter and finish it out. We had many contributors tonight; it was a good team win."
UP NEXT
The Tritons head to Boca Raton to take on Lynn this Saturday at 2:00 PM.
