ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd women's basketball team's smothering defense was too much for Nova Southeastern, as the Tritons picked up their fifth win of the season, 66-34, Saturday afternoon at the McArthur Center, giving Eckerd its best start to the season since 2007-08.
Eckerd and NSU played a tight game for the first four minutes before the Tritons closed the first quarter with a large 14-2 run, taking a 22-10 lead heading into the second. Three Tritons scored all 22 of Eckerd's points; Maya Price, Cirkeline Rimdal, and Lauryn Vieira. Price was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in the period as EC shot 10-for-12 from the field in the opening frame, good for an 83 percent shooting percentage.
The Eckerd defense kicked it up a notch for the remainder of the game, holding the Sharks to a 21 percent field goal percentage in the second, 25 percent in the third, and 20 percent in the fourth quarters. NSU would make just one 3-pointer for the remainder of the game, shooting 1-for-10 from beyond the arc the rest of the way.
Eckerd's offense cooled in the second, as they shot just 36 percent from the field. The third quarter was relatively low scoring for both squads, as EC narrowly outscored NSU 10-7, taking a 46-25 lead into the fourth. The Tritons dominated the final quarter, outscoring the Sharks 20-9.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: Eckerd 66, Nova Southeastern 34
RECORDS: Eckerd 5-0 (3-0 SSC); Nova Southeastern 5-4 (1-2 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Price and Rimdal led EC with 15 points each.
- Rimdal's 15 points set a career-high. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-2 from deep. She also pulled down four boards and added a steal.
- Vieira's seven assists was her fourth game this season with six or more. She leads the SSC in assists per game with 6.6, nearly two more than second-place (4.8).
- Persson went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. She leads the SSC in free-throw percentage, shooting 92 percent from the line.
- EC outscored NSU 36-18 in the paint and posted 19 points off turnovers.
- EC outrebounded NSU 36-25.
- This is just Eckerd's third 5-0 start to its season since 2002-03.
QUOTABLE
"We played great team defense today and did a nice job managing the interior on offense," said head coach Paul Honsinger '98. "We had good inside-out scoring balance, and everyone made positive contributions for the win."
UP NEXT
Eckerd is on the road for the first of a four-game road stretch, beginning with a trip to Palm Beach Atlantic Saturday at 2:00 PM.
