PENSACOLA, Fla. - An early deficit led the Eckerd women's basketball team to dropping its first game of the season to West Florida by a score of 77-67 at the UWF Field House on Saturday night. 

West Florida opened the scoring under 10 seconds into the game before Lauryn Vieira answered back with a three of her own to even the score. The Argos offense went on a tear and worked up to a 13-point lead (23-10) in the opening frame before a 3-pointer by Bella Green narrowed the margin to ten at the end of the first quarter with EC trailing 23-13. The Tritons chipped away at the Argos' lead, with Vieira and Green narrowing the margin to six at the 6:12 mark before West Florida regained momentum into the break, leading 40-28. 

The Argos came out strong in the second half, not giving the Tritons any room to generate offense. In the remaining 20 minutes, the closest margin the Tritons had was trailing by seven with 9:50 to go in the game off a pair of free throws by Jessie Ford. Eckerd could not complete the comeback, falling 77-66. 

HOW IT ENDED 

FINAL: West Florida 77, No. 9 Eckerd 67
RECORDS: Eckerd 1-1; West Florida 1-1

NOTES AND NUMBERS 

• Lauryn Vieira scored a career-high 28 points. Bella Green also set a career-high with 19 points to round out the double-digit scoring for the Tritons. 
• Vieira hit four 3-pointers, while Green hit three to combine for the Tritons' seven triples.
• Martyna Kowalska and Chance Bucher led the Tritons' defense, as Kowalska posted three blocks and Bucher collected five boards. Vieira added three steals. 
• Vieira was a perfect 6-for-6 on free throws. 

UP NEXT 

The Tritons travel to Mobile, Alabama, next Saturday to face Spring Hill College with tipoff at 2:00 PM CST.