ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team played its second straight Sunshine State Conference road game today at No. 11 ranked Eckerd. The Sailfish hung around early before the Tritons pulled away and defeated PBA 84-45. The Sailfish fall to 8-9 and 4-7 in SSC play. 

PBA played a solid opening quarter as they stuck close with the nationally-ranked Tritons. Five different Sailfish players scored a basket and it was Maria Benitez-Zayas who led the way with five points in the opening ten minutes of play. PBA was 5-of-16 from the field while the Tritons shot 41 percent from the floor and the 'Fish trailed 19-14 after the first.

Much like the first game between these two sides this season, Eckerd pulled away from PBA in the second quarter. They outscored the Sailfish 26-12 today as PBA failed to keep up with Eckerd 8-of-13 shooting in the quarter while hitting 5-of-7 shots from deep. Benitez-Zayas once again led the scoring for the Sailfish as she added another five points in the quarter as she went on her way to finish with a team-high 14 points. The two sides went to the halftime break with PBA trailing 45-26.

The second half went along the same lines as the second quarter as the Tritons built on their lead. PBA was outscored 24-13 in the third and 15-6 in the fourth quarter. The Sailfish finished the game shooting 16-of-55 from the field while Eckerd shot 53 percent from the floor. PBA's leading scorers Mariyah Fletcher and Kash Ayuso were held to three and two points respectively as they combined to shoot 2-of-11 from the field. 

The Sailfish return back home to Rubin Arena this week as they host Florida Southern on Jan. 25. The Mocs are 10-7 overall and 6-4 in SSC play. When the two sides met earlier this season in Lakeland, the Sailfish fell 78-53.