LAKELAND, Fla. - Despite a strong first quarter, the No. 8 Triton women's basketball team fell behind and could not rally past the No. 5 Panthers as they fell to Drury (Mo.), 85-73, on the first day of the Terrace Hotel Classic in the George W. Jenkins Field House on Friday afternoon.
Eckerd and Drury traded baskets to begin the game before Nicole Scales converted on a fast break opportunity to put the Tritons up five with 3:42 remaining in the first quarter. Kaylee Damitz-Holt equalized for the Panthers before Ragnheidur Einarsdottir scored, putting the Tritons up one. Hannah Wentworth ended the period with a 3-pointer, with the Tritons leading 22-18. Damitz-Holt was the difference maker for the Panthers in the second quarter, netting 15 points in the frame to lead Drury, who entered the half up 43-34.
The Tritons had a solid defensive effort in the third quarter, clawing back from a nine-point deficit. Scales and Sofia Persson brought the Tritons within one, 48-47, with 5:20 to go in the third quarter. The Tritons held Damitz-Holt scoreless in the third and regained the lead, which they held onto until the 1:30 mark. A buzzer-beater layup by Wentworth ended the frame with the Tritons down one, 59-58.
Damitz-Holt led the Panthers again in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points and giving DU an eight-point lead early in the fourth. With 5:10 left in the fourth quarter, Maya Price picked up her record-tying block on a layup by Allie Clevenger. Another block on a 3-pointer from Clevenger set the record for Price and led to a fast-break layup by Persson, narrowing the Panther lead to six. However, the Tritons were unable to answer back, falling to Drury 85-73.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: No. 5 Drury 85, No. 8 Eckerd 73
RECORDS: Eckerd 8-2 (4-0 SSC); Drury 9-1 (4-0 GLVC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Price led the way for Eckerd with 28 points, two shy of her career-high. Persson and Wentworth also notched double-digit figures with 14 points each.
- Price's season-high five blocks move her to 119 for her career, making her the new program record-holder, surpassing Cammie Makie (117), set back in 1990.
- The Tritons outshot the Panthers in the odd quarters - 22-18 in the first and 24-16 in the third.
- Persson and Price nearly tallied double-doubles, as they both collected eight rebounds on top of their double-digit points.
- Eckerd posted a season-high 19 turnovers.
- Lauryn Vieira led EC with nine assists.
QUOTABLE
"The team had a lot of good moments today, but we gave up too much on the offensive glass and were inconsistently defensively," stated head coach
Paul Honsinger '98. "It was a hard-fought back-and-forth game, but we came up short. We are hoping to get back on track tomorrow."
UP NEXT
Eckerd returns to the George W. Jenkins Field House tomorrow for the second day of the Terrace Hotel Classic. They face off against Truman State (Mo.) at noon.
