FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 16/24 Eckerd women's basketball team used a late fourth-quarter run, including a clutch jumper from Sofia Persson, to survive a late push from Nova Southeastern, picking up its 14th win of the season, 64-59, Saturday afternoon at Rick Case Arena.
The Tritons and Sharks played an even opening quarter, as both squads shot better than 53 percent from the field as NSU took a slight favor, 19-16, to end the frame.
Eckerd's defense swarmed in the second quarter as the nation's seventh-ranked scoring defense deployed in full force, holding the Sharks to 2-for-15 shooting. EC took its first lead of the game at the 6:37 minute mark on a pair of Persson free throws, which the Tritons held until the final four minutes of the game. EC outscored NSU 14-7 in the second for a 30-26 halftime lead.
EC led the entire third quarter and nearly stretched its lead to double-digits, 42-33, on a Maya Price layup with 3:26 to go. A three-point play by NSU's Grace Gilmore trimmed EC's lead, 42-36, heading into the final frame.
The Sharks stormed back in the fourth quarter, stifling the Tritons' offense and holding them scoreless for nearly five minutes. In that time, NSU mustered a 15-4 run to regain the lead, 58-53 with 3:42 to go.
Trailing by four with 1:04 left, Eckerd rallied to take the lead, outscoring the Sharks 10-1 down the stretch. With 17 seconds left, Persson played hero as she buried what ended up to be the game-winner, a step-back jumper, drawing a foul in the process and converting a successful three-point play put EC up by two, 60-58. NSU missed an opportunity to tie the game when Kyarrah Grant missed one of two free throw shots with 10 seconds left, and the Tritons held on for their 14th win of the season, 64-59.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: No. 16/24 Eckerd 64, Nova Southeastern 59
RECORDS: Eckerd 14-1 (10-3 SSC); Nova Southeastern 12-8 (7-6 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Three Tritons scored 15 or more points: Price (21), Persson (19), and Lauryn Vieira (15).
- Price's six blocks tie her career-high, giving her two games this season with six blocks, with the other coming against Rockhurst (Mo.) on December 18.
- Both Price and Vieira were on double-double watch, as each added seven rebounds to their scoring efforts.
- EC shot 22-for-23 from the free throw line, good for 95.7 percent. Persson led the way going 10-for-11.
- EC leads the SSC in free throw percentage at a 78.1 percent clip.
- EC's defense held NSU to a 30.8 shooting percentage from the field, including 25.8 percent from deep.
QUOTABLE
"This was a great come from behind win for our team to cap off a tough 2-0 week. I was proud of the resilience we showed today," said head coach Paul Honsinger '98.
UP NEXT
Eckerd is back home for an SSC showdown with No. 22/19 Tampa on Wednesday at 5:30 PM.
