ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After a tight first quarter, the Eckerd women's basketball team opened the second quarter with an 11-1 run, which propelled the Tritons to an 87-65 win Saturday afternoon at the McArthur Center.
The Tritons collected the season sweep of Embry-Riddle as they have now won eight straight games. Eckerd also clinched the No. 2 seed in the conference with the win today.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 87, Embry-Riddle 65
Records: Eckerd 19-5 (15-3 SSC); Embry-Riddle 9-16 (7-12 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
- The teams traded baskets over the majority of the first quarter. Eckerd took a five-point favor at 19-14 with 1:30 remaining following back-to-back layups by Eneritz Larranaga and Octavia Loll. However, the Eagles trimmed the deficit to two at 23-21 to end the period.
- EC went on an 11-1 run over the first three minutes of the second period to take a 36-24 lead. The Tritons stretched their lead to 15 on a Maya Price jumper with four minutes left. Eckerd maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the half and took a 45-33 lead into the break.
- Both teams battled a slow start to the third quarter before a Zoe Richards layup at the 8:27 mark started the second-half scoring. A Mikayla Kuehne 3-pointer gave EC a 17-point lead one minute later, but ERAU followed with a 7-1 run to cut their deficit to 11. A quick five points by the Tritons pushed them back up by 16, but the Eagles rolled off six consecutive points to pull within 10. Eckerd answered with a 9-3 run to take a 67-51 lead into the fourth.
- EC cruised throughout the final quarter as they opened it with a 6-0 run to take a 22-point lead. The Tritons maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the way before ending the game with back-to-back triples by Kuehne and Price.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Loll led Eckerd with 23 points while adding five rebounds and four steals.
- Kuehne (15 points), Price (13), and Larranaga (12) rounded out the double-figure scorers.
- Richards led EC on the boards with nine rebounds. She also grabbed three steals.
- The Tritons shot 56.7 percent from the floor while holding the Eagles to 37.1 percent.
- Eckerd collected the season sweep of Embry-Riddle for the second straight year.
- EC has earned the No. 2 seed in the conference as they hold a two-game lead over Florida Southern with one week left to play.
- Eckerd posted a season-low of only eight turnovers.
QUOTABLE
"One of our game keys was to take care of the ball today and we did that well with just eight turnovers," said head coach
Paul Honsinger. "We also shot well as a team, so we made the most of our possessions."
UP NEXT
Eckerd travels to Saint Leo on Wednesday for a 5:30 PM start.
