LAKELAND, Fla. – The Eckerd women's basketball team battled back from a first-half deficit to top Florida Southern 84-75 in a nail-biting double overtime victory at Jenkins Field House Wednesday night.
Octavia Loll turned in a clutch performance as she flirted with a triple-double of a career-high 27 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. She also delivered two key plays late, making a layup with 17 seconds left to tie the game and force overtime before draining a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into double overtime where the Tritons topped the Moccasins.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 84, Florida Southern 75 (2OT)
Records: Eckerd 18-5 (14-3 SSC); Florida Southern 16-10 (13-5 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- The Tritons opened the game with a quick 8-0 run after back-to-back triples from Eneritz Larranaga and Mikayla Kuehne. The Moccasins cut the deficit down to four points and then went on a 14-5 run into the end of the first as they led the Tritons 23-18.
- Florida Southern added to its lead with a 6-0 stretch to open the second quarter. Abby Whiteye laid in a basket with 6:40 left in the quarter to send the Tritons on a 12-4 run as they narrowed the gap to three, trailing the Mocs 33-30 at halftime.
- The Moccasins extended their lead to seven points at the 7:13 mark, but Larranaga nailed two consecutive triples to cut down the deficit to three. With 1:08 remaining in the third, Loll hit a jumper in the paint as the Tritons took a 43-42 lead heading into the fourth.
- The teams traded baskets to open the fourth as they battled for an edge with five lead changes throughout the quarter. The Mocs held the lead over the final three minutes, pulling in front by two on an Elsa Landberg free throw. However, Loll quickly tied the game for EC as she drove through the lane for a layup with 17 seconds left to send it into overtime.
- Similar to the fourth, the teams went back-and-forth in overtime. A Loll jumper with one minute left gave EC a one-point lead, but a Julia Jeneke jumper followed by three made free throws built a four-point lead with 14 seconds remaining for Florida Southern. Loll sunk two free throws to cut the deficit down, but a free throw from the Mocs held their lead at three points. With just five seconds remaining, Loll sprinted down the court and heaved a deep shot as she sunk a triple to tie the game at 70-70.
- Kuehne hit a triple to open the second period of overtime, followed by a jumper from Zoe Richards as EC took a five-point lead. Eckerd controlled the rest of the period with a 9-2 run as the Tritons won 84-75.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Loll led EC with a career-high 27 points. Larranaga added 16 points while Whiteye had 12.
- Richards recorded her fourth career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Richards 15 rebounds are the most by a Triton in a game since Kacie Juday also pulled down 15 against Flagler on Dec. 30, 2016.
- Loll and Whiteye played all 50 minutes of the marathon of a game.
- The Tritons complete the season sweep of Florida Southern with the victory tonight.
- EC made 27 free throws on 36 attempts. Their 27 made are the most in a game since December 19, 2011.
- Eckerd still sits second place in the conference now one game up on Florida Southern.
- The first South Region rankings came out earlier on Wednesday with Eckerd at the No. 6 seed and Florida Southern as the No. 7.
QUOTABLE
"This was a hard-fought and emotional win for our team tonight," said head coach
Paul Honsinger. "I'm extremely proud of how hard we competed and the poise we showed on the road. It was a great team win."
UP NEXT
The Tritons are back home on Saturday as they host Embry-Riddle at the McArthur Center at 2:00 PM.
