ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Lynn University women's basketball team continued its record-setting season on Thursday with a 60-52 upset win over No. 8 Eckerd in the SSC Tournament semifinals. The victory is the ninth straight for the Fighting Knights.
 
The win ties a program record with 23 victories, but more importantly advances Lynn to the 2023 SSC Tournament Championship game for the second time in school history.
 
The Fighting Knights will travel to No. 3 ranked and top-seed Tampa on Sunday with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Lynn carried a narrow 31-30 lead into halftime, but took over the game in the second half by outscoring Eckerd 29-22
- Lynn shot 41 percent from the floor (22-of-54), made three three-pointers and finished 13-of-17 at the foul line
- The Fighting Knights outrebounded the Tritons 44-31 and outscored them 33-5 in bench points
- Lynn trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter before sophomore Kennedi Philson hit a late jumper to cut Lynn's deficit to 16-11 at the end of the first
- Graduate Marianna Klavina hit a three-pointer at 7:16 in the second as Lynn surged to a 21-16 lead
- Eckerd rallied to lead 25-21 just after the midway point in the second
- Graduate student Loie Webb hit a late three-pointer with 31 seconds left in the half as the Fighting Knights led 31-27
- Lauryn Vieira closed the half for the Tritons with a three-pointer as Lynn led 31-30 at halftime
- Eckerd pushed its lead to four points twice in the third quarter
- Graduate student Jada Marone hit a layup with a 1:46 left in the third for a 43-41 lead and the Fighting Knights never trailed again
- Graduate Lucija Kostic hit a layup at 6:51 in the fourth as Lynn pushed its lead to eight, 49-41
- The Tritons had one final push left as they tied the game at 49 with 3:17 to go
- Lynn outscored Eckerd 11-3 from that point on including six points from sophomore Danielle Montelbano to capture the win
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Marone led Lynn with 14 points
- Montelbano came off the bench to score 15 points
- Sophomore Makayla Hemingway scored eight with a team-best nine rebounds