DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team picked up its third straight win on Thursday night, knocking off visiting Johnson & Wales, 72-57. All 11 Eagles that dressed for the game made at least one field goal in the victory.
Kalah Martin led the Eagles (12-5, 4-3) with 15 points and tallied nine rebounds while Mercedes Jorge chipped in 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Taylor Cyphers pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and Hannah Carine dished out a game-high four assists.
Kristina Bridges led all players with 18 points for the Wildcats (7-11, 2-5) and grabbed six rebounds while Diamond Williams poured in 16 points and added three assists and three steals.
The Eagles got off to a great start, opening up a 17-3 lead within the first seven minutes of the contest. A layup from Tara Fields made it 23-5 with 11:48 on the clock and a Kalah Martin three pushed the ERAU lead to 19 points (29-10), its largest of the game, with 8:49 left in the half.
Johnson & Wales fought back with an 18-5 run over the span of just over six minutes that saw the Eagle advantage trimmed to just six points (34-28) with 2:31 left before halftime. The Blue and Gold stemmed the tide with jumpers from Hannah Carine and Allison Abbott on back-to-back possessions before a Diamond Williams field goal accounted for the 38-30 halftime score.
JWU scored five of the first seven points to start the second half, cutting the Eagle advantage to just five points (40-35) less than two minutes into the period. A Jorge layup with 15:57 to play put the Blue and Gold back in front by double-digits (47-37), and the Eagles would hold maintain a double-digit lead for the rest of the contest.
Alicia Jackson knocked down a jumper to make it 61-42 with just over 10 minutes to play, matching the largest lead of the game for Embry-Riddle. Johnson & Wales couldn't make a run over the final quarter of the game and ERAU cruised to a 15-point victory, 72-57.
The Eagles shot 43.3% for the game while holding the Wildcats to just 30.8% from the field. Embry-Riddle dominated the paint, outscoring JWU 42-26 in the lane, and the Eagles doubled up the Wildcats in second-chance points, 34-17. The Blue and Gold also dominated the Wildcats on the boards, outrebounding Johnson & Wales, 58-32; 28 of ERAU's rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Embry-Riddle returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 24, with a road trip to Southeastern. The women will tip at 5 p.m., followed by the men at 7 p.m.
