ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team returned to the floor tonight after a midweek bye as they played at Eckerd College in their regular-season finale. The Sailfish fell behind early and struggled in the second quarter as the Tritons built a big lead that was too large to overcome for PBA as they fell 73-62. PBA finishes their regular with a 15-13 record overall and finishes 9-11 in Sunshine State Conference play.

Both teams had their offenses humming in the opening quarter as each side went 8-of-18 from the floor. The Tritons shot it better from deep and got to the line as they built an early 22-17 after the opening ten minutes. PBA got most of their work done down low in the first quarter as forwards Ashleigh Boulin and Mariyah Fletcher combined for 13 of the team's 17 points. 

The offense slowed in the second quarter for PBA as Eckerd built a lead that would be too big to overcome in the second half. Kash Ayuso was the lone scorer for the Sailfish in the quarter as she went 3-of-6, scoring eight points while the rest of the team was 0-for-9 from the floor. On the other end, the home side shot over 60 percent and scored 24 points. The Tritons led 46-25 at the half.

PBA tried to work their way back into the game in the second half, winning both the third and fourth quarters but the deficit was too large from the second quarter drought. The Sailfish outscored Eckerd 37-27 in the second half as they found consistent offense, shooting 50 percent from the floor. Ayuso scored 19 of her game-high 29 points in the second half as she finishes the regular season as the league's top-scorer at 19.4 points per game. 

Boulin was the other Sailfish player to finish in double-figures as she finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Fletcher had nine points and Karyzma Pierre finished with eight points. PBA was outscored by 18 points from behind the three-point line as shooter Jillian Schenk was limited to just three shots on the night.

The Sailfish fall to the No. 7 seed in the SSC Tournament after the defeat. They finish tied with Lynn for sixth but lose the tiebreaker which sends the Sailfish to Tampa for a first-round matchup on Tuesday, March 5. The Spartans narrowly defeated PBA in Tampa during the regular season which was PBA's biggest defeat in the second meeting.