HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- The Eckerd Tritons women's basketball team saw its season come to an end on Monday in the NCAA Tournament South Regional championship game, falling to the No. 1 seeded UAH Chargers by a score of 66-46.
Both teams battled to a closely-fought opening quarter that saw four ties. The Tritons trailed for most of the period, evening the score the first time at seven points apiece with a three-pointer from
Lisa Michaelsen around the halfway point. From there, the two teams exchanged baskets to result in a 13-13 tie before an
Emma Egan layup with 30 seconds to go gave the Tritons their first lead of the game. The Chargers hit a free throw in the closing seconds to make it a 15-14 game in favor of Eckerd after 10 minutes of action. The Tritons shot 54 percent from the floor in the quarter.
Egan collected the first points of the second period to put Eckerd up three, but UAH responded with a 23-2 run that spanned over the next six minutes of play. The 18-point lead following the run was the highest of the quarter for the Chargers as consecutive baskets by
Jaylen Ostenson and
Ieva Korzane closed out the half. The Chargers led 37-23 at the halftime break
UAH scored the first seven points of the third quarter to push the differential beyond 20 points. Eckerd caught back up in the third quarter, but still fell behind with a -3 differential. The Chargers held their comfortable lead to close the game out at its 20-point margin.
Egan led the Tritons with 15 points to go with seven rebounds, while Korzane and Ostenson each cracked double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Ostenson finished with a double-double, also adding 10 rebounds. Both Egan and Korzane were named to the South Region All-Tournament Team.
Eckerd ends the season with a 25-7 overall record and captured its second SSC regular season title ever. The 25 wins are the most since the 2022-23 season.
