No. 8 Tritons Close Regular Season With a Victory at Saint Leo

SAINT LEO, Fla. - After trailing by one in the first half, Sofia Persson and Lauryn Vieira combined for 28 points in the second half as the No. 8 Eckerd women's basketball team defeated the Lions 76-69 to close out the regular season at the Marion Bowman Activities Center on Saturday afternoon.

A back-and-forth first quarter saw the scores knotted at 16-16 after 10 minutes of action. Nicole Scales shot 2-for-2 from beyond the arc in the second quarter and tallied eight points. She brought the Tritons to a two-point lead with 1:18 remaining in the half before Alanis Diaz hit a 3-pointer to give the Lions the 33-32 nod at the intermission.

The Lions shot 80 percent from beyond the arc in the third quarter, gaining an 11-point margin on the Tritons in the frame. Persson, Scales, Vieira, and Cirkeline Rimdal combined for 12 points in the period as Eckerd trailed 55-44 heading into the fourth. Eckerd dug itself out of a large hole in the final period. Persson, Ragnheidur Einarsdottir, and Vieira lit up the board in the final frame as the Tritons added 32 points to their tally. Hannah Wentworth turned the tide for Eckerd with a triple at the 3:47 mark, which capped a 15-3 run, giving the Tritons their first lead since the second quarter. Viera went on a four-point run, bringing the Triton favor to four. The Tritons netted five free throws in the final 31 seconds to seal their regular season campaign with a win over the Lions, 76-69.

HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: No. 8 Eckerd 76, Saint Leo 69
RECORDS: Eckerd 23-4 (18-2 SSC); Saint Leo 14-14 (7-13 SSC)

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• Two Tritons tabbed double-doubles in the contest. Persson led with 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Einarsdottir added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
• Two other Tritons posted double-digit figures: Scales (14) and Vieira (13). Vieira was only two boards or three assists shy of a triple-double. 
• Eckerd shot 9-for-21 from a 3-point distance at a 42.9 percent clip. Persson was a perfect 2-for-2 on threes for the day.
• EC outscored SLU on fastbreaks, 10-2.
• EC's 18 SSC wins set a program record, surpassing 17 wins from the 2019-20 season. 

UP NEXT
Following tonight's contest, the Tritons finished second in the Sunshine State Conference. The No. 2 Tritons will host the No. 7 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) Eagles in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at the McArthur Center.