Women's basketball cruises to 33-point win over Florida Tech

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- The Eckerd Tritons women's basketball team rolled over the Florida Tech Panthers on Tuesday, winning by a score of 75-42 for its seventh straight victory.

The two teams battled in a back-and-forth opening quarter, with neither team holding a lead of more than four points. Jaylen Ostenson notched four of the Tritons' first six points to help the team double up Florida Tech at 6-3 four minutes in, but the Panthers eventually evened the score and held a three-point lead of their own at 11-8 wit three minutes remaining in the frame. Four straight points from Ieva Korzane regained the lead for the Tritons before Sarah Racaud's triple capped off a 7-0 run. The Panthers grabbed a bucket in the final minute to make it a 15-13 score in favor of Eckerd after 10 minutes of play.

In the second, the two teams exchanged baskets through the opening minutes until Korzane's layup at 6:33 put the Tritons up six points. Racaud's bucket a few possessions later extended the margin out to eight prior to Savannah Borowicz' first of three made three-pointers on the night that brought the score to 28-19. Neither team connected on a made field goal in the final three minutes of the half and the Tritons took a 29-21 lead into the halftime break. Eckerd held Florida Tech to just two made shots in the second period.

A dominant quarter ensued for the Tritons, continuing their defensive prowess on the way to a 23-8 advantage. Lisa Michaelsen began the strong start to the half with a layup before Ostenson knocked down another three-pointer to extend the differential out to 13 points. Eckerd started the third quarter on a 17-1 run and held Florida Tech without a field goal for the first 6:36 of the half, making it over 10 minutes dating back to the second quarter that the Panthers went without a made shot. Emma Egan scored 10 points in the third alone and the Tritons shot 62.5 percent from the floor to lead 53-29 entering the fourth. The team posted another double-digit margin in the final quarter at 23-13 to run away with the 33-point victory.

Nine different players scored in the win for Eckerd, with Ostenson leading the way with 17 points. Egan was next with 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while Borowicz went a perfect 3-3 from behind the arc and finished with 11 points.

With the victory, the Tritons improve to 7-2 on the season and 4-0 in the SSC. The team will be back in action Friday to face Erskine in Lakeland, Fla.