TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 8 Tritons women's basketball team and No. 7 Spartans fought a nail-biting battle on Saturday afternoon, as Eckerd fell 56-54 at the Bob Martinez Athletic Center. A dramatic fourth quarter saw a buzzer-beater by Tampa's Melijah Sullivan, giving the Tritons their first conference loss of the season.
Tampa started off hot, with a 6-0 run to open the game. Maya Price answered back for the Tritons as she knocked in a three to open up the scoring for Eckerd. Tampa and Price traded baskets before Nicole Scales gave the Tritons the go-ahead, 9-8, with 3:08 remaining in the first period. Scales and Price continued to add to the lead as the Tritons went up by three. Melijah Sullivan gave the Spartans a 12-11 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes with two free throws. In the opening minute of the second quarter, Cirkeline Rimdal answered, with Eckerd up 13-12. Sofia Persson and Lauryn Vieira gave the Tritons their first sizable lead, up by six, with 7:46 left. More back-and-forth action followed as the game was knotted 25-25 at the half.
The Tritons wasted no time to start the second half, with Hannah Wentworth adding two points only six seconds in. The quarter followed with the Tritons gaining a six-point favor. Finally, Price hit a 3-pointer, followed by a pair of free throws from Vieira, putting Eckerd up 43-34 with 1:31 remaining in the third quarter. Tampa shortened their deficit by three, with the Tritons leading 43-37 into the final frame.
Tampa chipped away at the Triton lead to tie, 43-43, with 6:27 remaining in the game. Both teams traded baskets and swapped leads five times the rest of the game. After a jumper by Persson put the Tritons up 52-50 with two minutes remaining, Sullivan brought the home team within one with a free throw before Sarah Jones converted on both free throws to give the Spartans the lead with 13 seconds remaining. After an EC timeout, Persson was fouled with 5.4 seconds on the clock. She converted on both free throws, giving the Tritons the lead, and forcing Tampa to call a timeout. Sullivan made a basket from the ground while falling down at the buzzer and converted on the and-one free throw to give Tampa a two-point margin with 0.8 seconds remaining. Scales threw a long pass to Persson, but it was not enough time as the buzzer sounded, with the Tritons falling 56-54.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: No. 7 Tampa 56, No. 8 Eckerd 54
RECORDS: Eckerd 13-3 (8-1 SSC); Tampa 16-1 (8-1 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Price recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
- Persson (15), Price (14), and Scales (11) all tallied double-digit points.
- The teams swapped leads 10 times, with the Tritons in front for the majority of the game (27:01).
- The Tritons outshot the Spartans from beyond the arc, 4-1.
- EC outscored UT on second-chance points 8-4.
- Following this game, no team in the Sunshine State Conference remains undefeated in conference play. Both Tampa and Eckerd sit 8-1 in the conference.
UP NEXT
The No. 8 Tritons remain on the road Wednesday as they travel to Melbourne, Florida, to face off against Florida Tech with a 5:30 PM tipoff.
