The Florida Tech Panthers got down early Saturday and never recovered, losing to Eckerd in Saint Petersburg by the score of 65-43. The win gives the Tritons the season sweep of the Panthers, who fell at home on December 2, 74-59.
Tereza Sedlakova led the Panthers with 17 for Florida Tech on 7-of-11 shooting. She also led the team with four rebounds. DeLise Williams had six points to go with three rebounds and an assist. The Panthers were just 17-of-47 (36.2 percent) from the floor for the game, including 6-of-21 (28.57%) in the second half. The third quarter saw the Panthers score five points.
The Tritons had three in double-figures, led by Yarden Danan’s 19 points. Freshman Abby Whiteye had 17 and Zoe Richards finished with 10.
Eckerd (13-5, 7-4) led from wire-to-wire in this one, starting the game on an 8-0 run. They hit four three-pointers in the first quarter alone and led 25-12 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, Sedlakova scored a couple buckets and Abby White hit a big three to make it 33-21 and Williams hit two free-throws for the Panthers with 1.4 seconds left, cutting the Tritons lead to 37-28. Eckerd tried a baseball pass for a quick bucket on the other end as time expired, but Williams traveled the length of the court to block the final attempt and send Florida Tech to the locker room only down nine.
Sedlakova scored the first points of the second half with a layup just 15 seconds in but neither team scored again until Abby Whiteye hit a free-throw with 4:07 to go in the quarter. Ada Yelcin and Richards then hit back-to-back three’s to give the Tritons a 44-30 lead.
Tanease Richardson hit a layup and Sedlakova hit one of two free-throws. That was all the Panthers scoring in the quarter and they were down 51-33 at the end of the third quarter and never recovered.
The Panthers 8-9, 5-6) were outscored 14-10 in the fourth quarter and 28-15 in the second half.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Eckerd Box Score
Florida Tech returns home on Wednesday, to take on the Rollins College Tars. The tip is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Clemente Center.