ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (January 6, 2024) - The scorching hot Rollins Tars secured their eighth consecutive victory on Saturday, hitting the road and taking out the Eckerd Tritons. The win moves Rollins to 9-3 on the year, and 6-0 in SSC play, putting the in first-place. Eckerd falls to 8-5, 3-3 SSC.
Rollins jumped out to a 7-0 lead with five points coming from
Ajalon Gillard. Eckerd didn't score until a Hannah Wentworth three with 5:26 to play. Minutes later, the Tritons would tie and take an 11-10 lead when Johanna Bielefeld completed a three-point play. The Tars fought back with
Maddie Dillinger scoring four points in the final two minutes, and
Grace Alfieri adding a layup to win the first quarter 15-13.
The second quarter was a tight one with Eckerd fighting back, and the Rollins keeping them at bay. The Tars turned to their size advantage in the second period, scoring their first ten points in the paint, the bulk of which came from
Aaliyah Irizarry-Perez. The Tritons tied the score five times in the quarter, but were never able to take a lead. Dillinger's jumper with 1:07 remaining were the final points of the half, and have the Tars a 30-28 lead at the break.
Once again, the Rollins defense was phenomenal. They limited Eckerd to just 9-31 shooting in the first half (29%), including just 2-13 from three (15%).
Both teams came out of the break with a focus on defense as zero points were scored in the first 2.5 minutes of play. Eckerd hit a three to take the lead, but
Lucy Leen was quick to answer back to reclaim the Rollins advantage. The lead would change three more times before the end of the quarter. After a pair of free throws gave Eckerd a 42-39 lead, Dillinger was able to connect on the Tars' final possession to cut the lead to one, 42-41, heading into the fourth.
The Tars came out swinging in the fourth, opening up the quarter on an 8-0 run to regain a comfortable lead. Gillard was responsible for six of the eight points in the stretch. Once Eckerd hit a three to pull within five, Gillard then score five more in the period to keep Rollins firmly on top. The Tars would not hit a field goal in the final 5:10 of the game, but they were consistent at the line, knocking down 10-14 free throw attempts to maintain a healthy lead, and eventually walk away with a 67-56 win.
Gillard led the offense with 19 points on 8-14 shooting. Irizarry-Perez recorded her second straight double double with ten points and twelve boards. Dillinger chipped in 13 points and six rebounds off the bench. Lauryn Vieira, who tied an SSC record with 43 points at Lynn on Wednesday, led the Tritons with 15 in the loss.
That makes eight straight wins for Rollins, including the first six games on their SSC schedule. They will put the streak on the line Wednesday, January 10 at home against Nova Southeastern. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 pm from Warden Arena.
