Women's basketball coasts to road victory over Saint Leo

SAINT LEO, Fla. -- The Eckerd Tritons women's basketball team picked up a road victory over the Saint Leo Lions on Wednesday by a score of 88-51.

The Lions sent in the first two field goals of the game held a slight lead for the opening four minutes of play until Jaylen Ostenson's three-pointer put the Tritons in front for good. Her triple was the beginning of three straight for Eckerd to fuel the team to a 9-0 run, seeing two during that stretch from Ostenson and another by Emma Egan. Ieva Korzane's three-pointer around the two-minute mark gave the Tritons their first double-digit lead of the contest, but the Lions notched the final five points of the period to make it a 17-11 score entering the second.

Kailyn Terrell hit a three for the first points of the second quarter, kicking off a 12-2 run for the team to begin the frame. Terrell's and-one basket at the seven-minute mark ended the surge and gave the Tritons their largest lead for the time being at 29-13. The lead grew to 19 at the halfway point following a made shot by Egan, but again Saint Leo closed out the period on a mini run to cut the deficit down. The Tritons shot 53 percent in the second and led 41-24 at the break.

The Lions saw their best effort come in the third quarter, closing the gap down under double figures at 47-38 halfway through. Consecutive layups from Sarah Racaud halted the momentum and put the Tritons back into a double-digit advantage before back-to-back triples by Greta Carollo and Korzane stretched it out to a 17-point differential moments later. Saint Leo owned the upper-hand in the third by a margin of 18-16 to inch closer, with Eckerd holding a 57-42 lead entering the the final 10 minutes of action. The Tritons out-scored the Lions 31-9 in the fourth to run away with the 37-point victory, shooting 74 percent from the field and a near-perfect 11-12 from inside the three-point line in the quarter. 

As a team, Eckerd shot 51 percent in the win and was led by Korzane's 20 points and seven assists. Four others joined Korzane in double figures, with Carollo next with 13 off the bench. Terrell added 12 on 4-6 shooting, while Ostenson and Lisa Michaelsen each contributed 10 apiece.

The Tritons improve to 11-4 overall and 6-2 in the SSC. They will return home to face Florida Southern on Saturday.