ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons women's basketball team picked up a win in its first home game of the season on Friday, beginning the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic with a 64-53 win over the visiting Cedarville Yellow Jackets.
After the visitors notched the opening bucket of the game, the Tritons responded with an 11-0 scoring run that saw three three-point makes, one from
Ieva Korzane and two from
Lisa Michaelsen. One possession later,
Emma Egan added to the three-point barrage with a made triple to give Eckerd a double-digit lead at 14-4 with just under four minutes to play in the opening frame.
Kailyn Terrell connected on the fifth made three of the quarter to grab the Tritons their final points of the period and make it a 19-8 score entering the second.
Cedarville trimmed the margin to just three points entering halftime following a 24-16 advantage in quarter two. The Tritons held a double-digit cushion through the first six minutes of the frame, but endured a 9-2 scoring outburst over a two-minute span by the Yellow Jackets that cut the differential to three with two minutes remaining.
Jaylen Ostenson's three halted the momentum, but Cedarville secured five of the final seven points to bring the score to 35-32 at the break.
A low-scoring third period ensued, with the Tritons doubling their lead from three to six after a 10-7 margin. The Yellow Jackets managed to pull even twice in the frame, but Eckerd scored the final six points and held Cedarville without a point through the final six minutes of action. Egan's layup with less than a minute left put the Tritons up 45-39 entering the fourth. Eckerd saw its margin reach double figures in the fourth and reach as high as 12 before finishing off the game with an 11-point win. The Tritons held the Yellow Jackets to just six made shots in the second half.
Egan posted a monster double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, while Korzane also finished with 16 points. Michaelsen and Ostenson each reached double figures with 12.
With the win, the Tritons improve to 3-2 on the year and will close out the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow afternoon vs. USC Beaufort.
