LAKELAND, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and held a one-point lead with a minute to play, but the Eagles couldn't hang on for the victory as Southeastern came back to claim a 65-60 win in Lakeland on Saturday night. ERAU saw its three-game winning streak snapped as the Blue and Gold dropped to 12-6 overall and 4-4 in conference play, while the Fire improved to 15-5, 7-2 in the league.

Kalah Martin led the Eagles with 17 points while shooting 8-of-22 from the field. Sabrina Whiting tallied 13 points and led the team with three assists and two steals while Mercedes Jorge posted a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Taylor Cyphers chipped in eight points, seven boards and a game-high three blocks.

Hannah Demarest paced the Fire with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench. Carlie Newman scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds while Tiara Young poured in 17 points.

ERAU shot 33.3% from the field and held SEU to just 34.5% from the floor, but the difference came at the free throw line, where Embry-Riddle was 7-of-13 and Southeastern was 16-of-19. The Fire earned just two trips to the charity stripe in the first half before knocking down 15 free throws in the second period, accounting for more than half of SEU's points in the second half.

Martin drilled a three to open the scoring and a jumper by Jorge put ERAU ahead, 7-6, with 15:36 left in the half. That would prove to be the Eagles' last lead of the period, as Young hit a triple 25 seconds later to put Southeastern in front, 9-7.

The Eagles and Fire were knotted up at 12 just over seven minutes into the contest. Over the next eight minutes, SEU outscored Embry-Riddle 16-4 to open up a 12-point advantage (28-16). The lead increased to a game-high 14 points on an Alyssa Ramos trey with 3:46 to play in the period. The Blue and Gold held the Fire scoreless over the final 3:11 of the half but still trailed by 10 at the break (36-26).

A three-pointer from Whiting and a three-point play from Cyphers brought the Eagles within six (38-32) just 90 seconds into the second half, but Southeastern bounced back to regain its 10-point lead (43-33) three minutes later.

Embry-Riddle made it a close game about midway through the second half when a Martin jumper capped a 9-0 spurt that trimmed the deficit to a single point (45-44). Ashley McWilliams hit a three with 9:19 to go that tied the game at 47 and Martin scored a layup less than a minute later to give ERAU its first lead since early in the game at 49-47.

The lead changed hands five times over the next six minutes, with neither side able to pull away by more than five points. The Fire held a five-point advantage with 4:34 to play, at which point the Eagle defense stepped up and held SEU scoreless for more than three-and-a-half minutes. Whiting hit a jumper with 3:17 left to cut the lead to three and Martin made a fast-break layup with 1:42 to play that made it a one-point game (59-58).

Embry-Riddle got a steal and a score from Whiting to retake the lead, 60-59, with 1:10 to play. Unfortunately for the Eagles, that would prove to be final points of the game for ERAU.

Young made a pair of free throws that pushed Southeastern back to the lead, 61-60, with 57 seconds to play. The Eagles failed to score on their next two possessions before Newman made two free throws to make it 63-60 with 30 ticks left on the clock. After Whiting missed a potential game-tying three, Demarest converted two free throws to make it 65-60, which would prove to be the final score.

The Eagles return home on Wednesday, Jan. 28 to host Northwood in a Sun Conference doubleheader. The women will take the court at 5:30 p.m., with the men's game set to tip-off at approximately 7:30 p.m.