DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team notched perhaps its biggest win so far this season as they registered a 71-56 upset of 25^th-ranked Webber International, Saturday at the ICI Center. The Eagles, who improve to 10-5 overall and 2-3 in Sun Conference play, exacted a measure of revenge for a loss to WIU on Dec. 3, and handed the league-leading Warriors (12-2, 5-1) their first conference loss of the season.
 
Sabrina Whiting turned in her second-best scoring performance of the year, leading all scorers with 20 points to go with five rebounds and three steals. The freshman was also the best shooter from the perimeter, going 4-of-6 from the three-point line to go with a 4-for-5 performance from the charity stripe.
 
The first 7:24 of the contest belonged to the Blue and Gold who raced out to a 20-6 lead. The Eagles capitalized on a poor shooting start by a Warrior team that managed just one of their first seven shots, and scored seven unanswered points before WIU could get on the board.
 
Despite the sizeable advantage, the Warriors showed why they are ranked as one of the top teams in the country and should not be counted out as a Laquanda Brazil layup at the 12:21 mark sparked a 13-3 Warrior run and closed the ERAU gap to just two points, 23-21.
 
Both teams struggled offensively over the next two and a half minutes, with the only points during that stretch coming on a pair of Ashley McWilliams free throws. At the 4:12 mark, Kalah Martin knocked down her first long-range shot of the game to put the Eagles up by seven (28-21) and the home team maintained that advantage, taking a 32-25 lead in the intermission.
 
ERAU opened the second half with a Mercedes Jorge layup and a Whiting three. Once again, the Warriors came up empty offensively to start the frame and another Jorge layup, a pair of Martin free throws and a McWilliams trey helped push the Eagle lead to 19 (44-25) with 16 minutes remaining.
 
Webber International looked for an answer and got it from Quanthavia Stalworth who scored 12 of her team-high18 points in the second half. The Warriors began to chip away at the lead, and with 5:01 showing on the clock, Stalworth made an unassisted layup to make it a 10-point game (53-43).
 
As was the case in the first half, the Eagles withstood the WIU rally and got timely baskets from Hannah Carine, Whiting and Martin, whose three-pointer at the 2:34 put her team back up by 14 (61-47). A team that has struggled from the charity stripe this season, the Eagles made good on six of their last eight free throws when the Warriors resorted to fouling down the stretch to pull off the upset.
 
Jorge finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, while Martin contributed 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Taylor Cyphers led all players on the boards with 11 rebounds to go with eight points.
 
The Eagles will travel to Thomasville, Ga. on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. tilt against conference foe Thomas.