Women's basketball edged by No. 4 Nova Southeastern, 62-61

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Eckerd Tritons women's basketball team saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end on Wednesday evening, falling to the No. 4 ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks by a score of 62-61.

The Tritons held the advantage after one quarter of play, using a strong defensive showing that held the Sharks to just 25 percent shooting on 20 attempts. Eckerd fell behind 5-0 to start the contest, but back-to-back layups by Ieva Korzane capped off a mini 5-0 spurt to even the score around the six-minute mark. Emma Egan gave the Tritons their first lead moments later before the two teams traded baskets to make it a 9-8 game with four to go. From there, Eckerd rattled off an 11-4 scoring run to close the period, which included a pair of layups by Korzane in the final 30 seconds. The Tritons led 20-12 entering the second.

Nova inched closer after winning the second quarter, beginning with the frame's first two buckets to cut the gap in half. Later at 22-18, the Tritons broke away from the Sharks momentarily, seeing two made shots by Egan and Terrell before an Egan triple gave the team a lead of 11. The margin reached 12 with around three minutes to play in the half, but Nova notched the final seven points of the half to bring the score to 31-26 at the break. 

In the third, the Tritons saw their lead reach 10 again after Jaylen Ostenson sent in a shot at 6:15 to make it a 40-30 game. A 6-0 run ensued for the Sharks, but seven straight free throws from the Tritons closed out the half and gave the team an 11-point advantage entering the final period. Nova Southeastern quickly stormed back, trimming the margin down to just five after four minutes of play in the fourth. Egan's backdoor layup on a pass from Kailyn Terrell halted the visitor's momentum and moved the lead back to seven moments later, but a three-pointer and a three-point play from the Sharks cut the lead for Eckerd down to just one at 3:10. The two teams went back and forth for the next two minutes until Nova grabbed its first lead of the half at 60-58 with just 53 seconds showing on the clock. Ostenson answered with a driving layup on the following possession, but a foul on the other end led to a pair of made free throws to move the Sharks back out in front. Two possessions later, the Tritons got fouled with just seconds remaining, but went 1-2 from the line. A last-second rebound and putback attempt was off the mark for the Tritons, and the Sharks escaped with the one-point win. 

Egan led the way with a game-high 23 points to go with 13 rebounds, while Ostenson added 16 points and 14 rebounds. Korzane also added 12, while Lisa Michaelsen posted six blocked shots. The Tritons held the Sharks to just 31 percent shooting on the night, but faced 25 more attempts from the floor from the visitors.

Eckerd will be back in action Saturday at No. 20 Embry-Riddle.