Eckerd Pulls Away From FIT in Fourth Quarter

DeLise Williams - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography

The Florida Tech women dropped their third straight game on Wednesday night, falling to the Eckerd Tritons 67-52 at the Clemente Center. 

“In the last five minutes, the team the wanted it more, went and got it,” said Panthers head coach John Reynolds. “That’s the game in a nutshell.”

DeLise Williams led the Panthers with 14 points and three assists, while Michaela Gelbaugh scored 10 points. Julie McCarthy and Tereza Sedlakova had six boards each for the Panthers.

The Panthers (9-10, 4-8 in SSC) struggled in the first half, shooting 37.5% (9-for-24) and were struggling to dig out of the hole that created, the rest of the night. Their shooting did not improve in the second half, as they were 6-for-27 (22.2%), but their defense did. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.

In the first quarter, Florida Tech got a three-point play by Gelbaugh with two minutes left and a three-pointer from Markeema Crawford, with 29 seconds left. Those two plays accounted for half of the Panthers points in the quarter and they were down 19-12.

In the second quarter, the Tritons extended their lead to 10 points early and maintained it for the duration of the half. A shot by Gelbaugh at the buzzer counted and the Panthers were down 40-30, going into the locker room.

Eckerd (18-3, 11-1 SSC) won the battle on the boards in that first half, 17-12 and that was not lost on Reynolds. “We were just spectators tonight,” said Reynolds. “We probably had two or three kids that should’ve bought a ticket.”

Things did improve for the Panthers in the second half from a defensive standpoint, as they held Eckerd to 10 points. The Tritons led by as many as 13, but Sedlakova hit a three with 54 seconds left, to cut the lead to 48-41. Unfortunately, a defensive lapse resulted in a layup at the buzzer and the Panthers were down 50-41, entering the last 10 minutes.

Anna Deegan had a game-high 17 points for Eckerd and she hit one of her four three-pointers right out of the gate, to start the fourth. The Panthers went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 53-47 and got it to 55-51, with 6:20 left in the game.

“We got the game to 55-51 and we had the ball, twice and couldn’t score,” said Reynolds. “We missed two or three layups, easy ones. I’m at a loss for words, because for most of that game we were playing not to lose.”

The Tritons scored seven straight points after the Panthers failed to take advantage and just like that, the lead was 11, 62-51, with 3:46 left. That proved to be more than the Panthers could overcome.

“Eckerd is the number one team in our region, number one team in our league and they’re probably worthy of a top-15 ranking in the country, maybe top 10,” Reynolds said. “They’re solid. We got beat down the stretch, because we got out toughed.”

To make matters worse, the Panthers were out rebounded 44-28, for the game. That can’t happen on your home floor and that was without a doubt, the difference in the game.

For more info: Eckerd @ Florida Tech Box Score

Next up for the Panthers is an SSC clash with Nova Southeastern on Saturday. The game is scheduled to tip at 2:00 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale.




This blog is an extension of our website - Sportslowdown.com
Follow us on Twitter @sports_lowdown

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Men’s Soccer Earns Win and Tie in Opening Week

Image
The Florida Tech Men’s Soccer team played two home games last week, winning one and getting a hard fought tie in game two. They opened the season on Thursday, with a 2-0 win over Union Tennessee. The Panthers’ defense clamped down for much of the night, holding Union to four shots through the entirety of the match. Florida Tech Junior forward Evan Enders beat Bulldogs goalkeeper Igor Luczensky at the 39:17 mark, with his first and only shot of the night after he beat three defenders across the goal line. That put the Panthers up 1-0. Tobias Hildmann picked up the assist. The second goal of the night came from Senior forward Adin Kavara , at the 73:23 mark. Senior defender Sam Sawyer headed the ball down to Kavara, who blasted it by Luczensky, giving the home team a 2-0 advantage and the eventual win. Three of the Bulldogs four shots came in the second half. Florida Tech Freshman goaltender Christian Moerch was credited with three saves. FIT dominated in corner kic...
Read more

Panthers Upset #8 Lynn in Men's Soccer

Image
Melbourne became upset city on Wednesday, as the Florida Tech Panthers defeated the number eight team in the country, the Lynn Fighting Knights, 2-1.   This was a huge bounce-back win, for the Panthers who were upset by Barry on Saturday, who at the time had one win on the season. The Panthers who were ranked 12th coming into that game, dropped out of the top 25 because of that loss, so Wednesday's win over Lynn was huge.   The game started about 95 minutes late due to rain at Rick Stottler Field, but once things got underway, the Panthers were up to the challenge. The defense pitched a shutout in the first half, only allowing the Fighting Knights one shot and that was not on goal.   Florida Tech (9-2, 6-1 SSC) got on the board 11:55 in when Jan Hlavica took a long-range shot and that Lynn goaltender Alexander Roth looked poised  to bat it over the top of the net, but he couldn't corral it and it snuck in behind him from about 35 yards out. It wa...
Read more

Florida Tech Releases Statement on Mark Cato

Image
The Following is an official statement on the status of quarterback Mark Cato from Florida Tech University. Florida Tech Panthers football quarterback Mark Cato (legal name Marquis Gordon Robins) has been suspended indefinitely from all team activities as the university conducts a review into his arrest early Sunday morning by the Melbourne Police Department on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol. “Being a student-athlete at Florida Tech means abiding by high standards of personal conduct. If investigations into this matter reveal violations of these standards, appropriate and serious actions will be implemented,” said Florida Tech Athletics Director Bill Jurgens. As both the police and university investigations are ongoing, no additional details will be forthcoming until these matters are complete, Jurgens said. Details of the events surrounding the arrest are available in the Florida Today article written by J.D. Gallop and Tyler Vazquez. Thi...
Read more