WINTER PARK, Fla. (January 8, 2011) - Despite a
second half rally to pull back into contention, the
14th-ranked Rollins Tars fell 72-71 in a Sunshine State
Conference showdown against Eckerd College on Saturday afternoon in
Warden Arena.
Rollins drops to an overall mark of 13-2, and 2-2 in SSC action,
while the Tritons advance to a mark of 9-4, and 3-1 in conference
play.
Paris
Moore picked up her first double-double of the season, posting
15 points and bringing in 10 rebounds. Matching Moore in points
was Amber
Heistan with 15, while Jasmine
Bradley led the team with 16 points on the day.
Eckerd's Kati Rausberg recorded a game high 21 points, shooting
5-for-6 from long range. Collecting the only other double-digit
scoring performance for the Tritons was Taylor Young with a 17
point performance.
The first half saw nine lead changes and the score tied on five
occasions, leaving the count knotted at 30 as they entered the
break. Rollins pulled out by as much as six with a score of 16-10
and 12:11 on the clock, but the Tritons were able to bounce right
back and stay in contention.
Eckerd jumped out to a quick lead in the second half, and slowly
extended their advantage to nine with a score of 47-38 and 11:54
remaining. The Tars were not about to back down, using the ensuing
four minutes to pull to within five points of the Tritons with a
score of 47-42.
Rollins went punch-for-punch to stay within five as both teams
picked up six more points over the course of a minute, and finally
kicked things into high gear to pull even with a score of 55-55,
and 5:10 remaining.
In a little over two minutes the score changed hands seven
times. Young drained a trey to pull ahead 58-55, but the Tars made
good on a finger roll from Bradley, and then caused Eckerd to turn
the ball over for another Bradley layup off of a fast break to earn
a 59-58 lead with 4:19 to go.
Eckerd's Ashley Lutz earned two off of an assist from Young on
the next trip down court to give the Triton's a one point
advantage, but Bradley put the Tars on top once more with a layup
of her own to set the score at 61-60.
Young made good on a bucket of her own to give the Tritons a
slim 62-61 advantage, but Bradley raced down court one more time to
give Rollins the lead with a score of 63-62 and 3:18 to go.
The Tritons capitalized on some misplays from Rollins and
drained two straight shots from beyond the arc to pull ahead by
five, but Rollins fought hard to overcome the deficit and pull
ahead by one with just 33 ticks remaining as Moore sank two shots
from the charity stripe to put the Tars up 71-70.
Eckerd played smart on their final trip down court, and
rebounded a missed shot from Lutz for a second-chance bucket from
Young with seven seconds left. Rollins used the final ticks to get
one shot off, but a block from Tijana Brdar to secured the win by a
slim one-point margin.
Rollins returns to action on Wednesday, January 12, when they
step out of conference play to host Palm Beach Atlantic. Tipoff
against the Sailfish is set for 7 p.m. at Warden Arena in the
Alfond Sports Center. Fans who cannot make it to the game will be
able to catch all of the action live on the Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
