ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.- Hitting the road for a post Thanksgiving road swing beginning Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Eckerd College Tournament, the Palm Beach Atlantic University came away with a 52-62 defeat at the hands of the tournament-hosting Tritons of Eckerd College.

“We are making progress and tonight was a great effort by the girls overall as I was especially pleased with the improvement we showed at the free-throw line,” said head coach Robin Potera-Haskins after the game.

Trailing by five at the half (33-29), the Fish opened up the contest with a solid first-half shooting percentage of 40.7% before dropping to 30.8% in the second half. The Fish were also out rebounded by Eckerd (3-0) on the night by a total of 41-36.

Sophomore Brooke Burgess (Palm City, Fla.) put forth a solid effort for the Fish as she totaled game-high honors with 24 points and nine rebounds in the losing effort. Burgess, a sophomore transfer in her first season wearing the blue and white, registered a solid night from the field as she connected on 9-15 shots from the field and a perfect 6-6 from the charity stripe.

Junior Sitara Richard (Richardson, Texas) also netted double-figures in points as she tallied 12 points while hitting four of nine shots from beyond the arc while also adding in 7 rebounds, playing in all 40 minutes of the contest.

Olivia Nagle proved to be valuable for the Tritons in the paint as the EC center totaled 15 points on 6-11 from the field while chipping in six rebounds and three assists. Also registering double-digits in points for the Tritons was Ashley Lutz who posted a night of 11 points, six rebounds, and six assists.

Now 1-4 on the season, PBA looks forward to their second game of the Eckerd Tournament in which they will take on Minnesota State-Mankato on Saturday afternoon at approximately 1:00 p.m.