ST. PETERSBURG - Forced to play catch-up most of the night, the Lady Mocs never could come all the way back and wound up dropping a 71-69 Sunshine State Conference decision to last-place Eckerd here Wednesday night.
The Tritons' Ashley Lutz sank a free throw to break a 15-15 tie with 13:35 left in the first half and Eckerd never trailed from that point. The lead grew to 33-20 with 4:44 left in the half before the Moccasins were able to trim it to four, 35-31, at halftime.
Trailing 55-44 with 11:50 remaining in the game, the Moccasins went on a 16-6 run to narrow the margin to 61-60 on a free throw by Chelsea Johnson with 5:51 to go, but could not get any closer.
A three-pointer by Megan Dzikas with 27 seconds left cut Eckerd's lead to 71-69 and the Moccasins got the ball back after a missed Eckerd shot, but turned it over with six seconds left and Eckerd ran out the clock.
Nicolle DiRaimo led FSC with 20 points and added nine rebounds, six assists and two blocks. Michaela Hawley had 15 points, Chelsea Johnson scored 13 and Megan Dzikas tossed in 10.
Johnson and Dzikas had a cold shooting night, as they combined to go 8-for-30 from the field and 3-for-13 from three-point range.
Lutz led Eckerd (8-12, 2-9 SSC) with 22 points. Tijana Brdar added 17, with Taylor Young and Krystal Charles combining for 23 points off the bench.
The Moccasins (17-6, 7-5 SSC), who are ranked fifth in this week's South Region rankings, are on the road Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. game at Lynn.
