DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team opened the 2015 calendar year with a strong performance as the Eagles defeated Southwestern (Kan.) 71-63 on the first day of the Bahama House/Best Western Aku Tiki Shootout on Friday. Mercedes Jorge paced an Eagle offense that notched its fifth straight win, scoring 18 points to help the Blue and Gold improve to 7-3 on the year.
 
Jorge did most of her damage in the first half, tallying 11 points in that frame, but it was teammate Ashley McWilliams who led all first-half scorers, totaling all 14 of her points in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
Tiffany Rieger scored a game-high 19 points for a Lady Builder team that closed out the 2013-14 season in the quarterfinal round of the NAIA II National Championship. Jordan Hobbs and Jana Reichenberger chipped in 11 points apiece as Southwestern fell to 7-6.
 
The Lady Builders jumped out to an early lead and behind five three pointers in the first nine minutes, led by seven, 22-15. A layup by Jorge at the 11:26 mark keyed a 13-6 Eagle run that resulted in the game's first tie (28-28) with 6:54 left in the half. Layups by Reichenberger and Kenzi Taylor put the Lady Builders back ahead by four (32-28), but McWilliams hit one of her three first-half three-pointers to make it a one-point game and Jorge got another layup at the 3:58 mark to give the Blue and Gold its first lead of the contest.
 
The Eagles outscored Southwestern 8-4 in the closing minutes of the first half and took a 41-36 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
Coming out of the intermission, Tiffany Rieger hit a trey to pull the Lady Builders within two (41-39), but that was as close as the visitors would get as the Eagles scored eight unanswered points to extend the advantage to 49-39. The Blue and Gold widened the gap to as many as 13 points before wrapping up the eight-point victory.
 
The Eagles close out play in the Bahama House Shootout at 3 p.m. on Saturday when they take on Trinity International (Ill.).