TAMPA, Fla. - Following a back-and-forth game, a Ragnheidur Einarsdottir triple at the 1:53 mark and a jumper by Lauryn Vieira on the ensuing possession propelled the No. 13 Eckerd women's basketball team past No. 8 Union, 64-57, in the South Region Semifinals Saturday afternoon at the Bob Martinez Center. The Tritons advance to the South Regional Championship for the first time in program history.
Following back-to-back threes from Nicole Scales and Ragnheidur Einarsdottir, Eckerd took an 8-3 lead at the 4:58 mark. A Lauryn Vieira layup at the 3:02 mark gave the Tritons a 13-5 favor. However, Union ended the frame with six straight points as EC held a 13-11 edge.
Five straight points gave the Bulldogs a one-point favor early in the second frame, but a Hannah Wentworth triple gave EC back the lead. The teams swapped baskets the rest of the half as the Tritons took a 24-23 edge at the break.
EC jumped out to a five-point favor early in the second half, but Union responded with five consecutive points to take a one-point favor. The Tritons pushed back out by six with two minutes remaining before taking a 43-42 edge at the end of the third.
Three UU free throws to start the fourth gave the Bulldogs a 45-43 advantage, but back-to-back Wentworth triples put EC up 49-45 with 5:31 left. Union rallied to even the score at 51-51 and again at 53-53, but an Einarsdottir triple followed by a Vieira jumper at 1:17 gave Eckerd a five-point lead. The Tritons then hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: No. 13 Eckerd 64, No. 8 Union 57
RECORDS: Eckerd 26-5; Union 27-4
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Wentworth led Eckerd with 23 points, two shy of her career-high.
- Vieira produced an outstanding stat line with 20 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
- Sofia Persson posted a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
- Eckerd advances to the regional championship for the first time in program history.
- The Tritons made their third program appearance in the semifinals.
- Einarsdottir finished second on the squad in rebounds with eight.
- The game featured 10 lead changes and five ties.
- Eckerd collected its first win over Union in program history.
- The Tritons limited Union to a 33.3 field goal percentage.
QUOTABLE
"It was a hard-fought game and became a defensive game, and at that point, we had the upper hand. Union is a talented team, and to know that we held them to 33 percent from the floor is really impressive. Our defensive energy was tremendous," stated head coach Paul Honsinger '98. "Playing for a regional championship game is where we want to be and a goal of our team this year, and I am very proud of them."
UP NEXT
Eckerd will face the winner of the No. 1 seed Tampa vs. No. 6 seed Lee on Monday at 7:00 PM.
