GAMEDAY CENTRAL
Embry-Riddle (9-4, 1-2) at St. Thomas (10-3, 3-0)
DATE: Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015
CITY: Miami Gardens, Fla.
VENUE: Fernandez Family Center
TIP-OFF: 6 p.m. EST
LIVE STATS: ERAU Gameday Network
LIVE VIDEO: STU Livestream
LIVE AUDIO: STU Livestream

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
The Embry-Riddle women picked up the program's first-ever Sun Conference victory with a 71-51 win over Ave Maria on Saturday. The Eagles, who are 9-4 overall and 1-2 in Sun Conference play, got 20 points and 11 rebounds from Taylor Cyphers and 18 points and nine boards from Mercedes Jorge in the victory.

Four Eagle players are averaging 10-plus points per game, including Jorge (11.2), Kalah Martin (10.8), Cyphers (10.5) and Sabrina Whiting (10.5). Whiting also leads the squad in steals (2.4 spg) and assists (3.3 apg), while Taylor Cyphers leads the league and is 14th nationally in blocks per game (2.4).

SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
St. Thomas hasn't lost since Dec. 18, winning five straight since then. The Bobcats, last year's conference regular season champions, now stand at 10-3 overall and 3-0 in conference play. STU is just a half-game behind 4-0 Webber International in the league standings this season.

Four-time TSC Player of the Week Dannisha Pierce is pacing the STU offense, averaging a conference-best 20.9 points per game (9th nationally) while shooting a conference-leading 59.3% from the floor (3rd in NAIA II). Pierce also leads the country with 4.9 steals/game and leads The Sun Conference with 9.7 rebounds per contest.

As a team, STU is holding opponents to just 33.5% shooting, ninth-best in NAIA II, while shooting 47.4% from the field, fourth in the nation. The Bobcats average 14.2 steals/contest, fifth in the country, and are 32nd in assists/game with 15.2.

AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Collectively, the Eagles rank No. 1 in NAIA II in field goal percentage defense (.309). The Blue and Gold also rank among the nation's top 10 in total rebounding margin (7th, 10.75), defensive rebounds per game (9th, 31.67) and total rebounds per game (10th, 46.9). ERAU is also 12th in blocks/game (4.7) and 26th in assists/contest (15.5).