ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In a tight battle from the start, the Eckerd women's basketball team outlasted Rollins, 87-80, in a double overtime thriller Tuesday evening at the McArthur Center in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.
Mikayla Kuehne and
Abby Whiteye erupted for career-highs as they led the Tritons with 29 and 27 points, respectively.
Eckerd trailed most of the game, but finally pulled ahead in the fourth only to see Rollins rally and tie the game to end regulation.
With time expiring in overtime, a scramble to gain possession led to a buzzer-beating layup from
Zoe Richards to send the game into double overtime. In the second overtime, Kuehne and Whiteye hit three consecutive triples to give EC a lead that they held onto to secure the victory.
HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 87, Rollins 80 (2OT)
Records: Eckerd 22-5; Rollins 15-14
KEY MOMENTS
- A slow start to the first quarter saw the teams trading foul shots as the Tritons pulled ahead 6-2. With 1:41 remaining, Mar Ibern hit a triple to give EC a 9-8 lead. The Tars answered with five straight points to build a four-point lead heading into the second.
- Kuehne opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer, but Rollins rolled off five consecutive points as they took a six-point lead. A string of free throws and fast-break layup for Richards tied the game at 18 points apiece. The teams traded baskets into the end of the quarter before a jumper from Whiteye with 14 seconds remaining in the first half pulled EC within one point at 28-27 heading into halftime.
- Rollins opened the third with four straight points, but back-to-back triples from Kuehne and Whiteye turned the five-point deficit into a one-point favor. With four lead changes with time running out in the third, another 3-pointer from Kuehne and a layup from Whiteye tied the game up at 43-43.
- The teams traded points to open the fourth until Rachel Lia scored five straight points as the Tars gained a four-point edge. Whiteye and Eneritz Larranaga hit consecutive triples as EC regained the lead at 53-51. With 1:38 remaining in the fourth, Kuehne drained a go-ahead triple from the right corner that gave Eckerd a three-point lead. With three seconds remaining, the Tars laid in a basket to tie the game. Octavia Loll drove into the paint with just seconds remaining on the clock and lobbed up a turnaround jumper that just missed as the game went into overtime.
- Right off the tipoff of overtime, Whiteye laid in a basket to give the Tritons a two-point edge. The contest remained close with both teams trading baskets. Rollins managed to build a three-point lead, but a layup from Loll with 23 seconds on the clock brought EC within one-point. The Tars made one free throw to make it a two-point game, but an EC timeout advanced the ball to the Tritons frontcourt. With 16 seconds remaining, the Tritons scrambled to make a play with Kuehne diving on the floor to recover a lost ball. She shovel passed to Whiteye where she quickly dished a pass to Richards in the paint, who spun to lay in a basket and tie the game at 69-69 to force double overtime.
- The Tars made the quick move off the tipoff in double overtime as Rachel Jablonski laid in a basket. Kuehne and Whiteye then hit three consecutive triples followed by a jumper as EC took a four-point lead with only 1:20 remaining. Denise Daniels laid in a basket to cut the Tars' deficit down to three points but four straight points from the Tritons locked in their victory.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Kuehne and Whiteye led EC with career-high's of 29 and 27 points, respectively.
- Loll posted her fourth career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists.
- Mar Ibern led the Tritons on the boards with a career-high nine rebounds.
- Kuehne and Whiteye combined for 10 of EC's 13 triples.
- Eckerd battled through its second-lowest shooting percentage (35.8) of the season in the win tonight.
- The Tritons advance to the semifinals for the fourth straight year.
QUOTABLE
"This was a game we had to grind out to win," said head coach
Paul Honsinger. "I'm very proud of the perseverance the players showed and the endurance they displayed to push though the double overtime. The crowd was tremendous tonight; they gave us a big lift when we needed it."
UP NEXT
The Tritons advance to the semifinals of the Sunshine State Conference tournament as they host Florida Southern on Thursday at 7:00 PM.
