DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team secured the program's first overtime win on Wednesday, topping Palm Beach Atlantic 61-56 in the Eagles' first NCAA II contest. The win puts the Eagles at 2-0 on the young season, while the Sailfish fell to 0-3 with the loss.
The Eagles seemed out of sync to start the game, turning the ball over on four of their first six trips down the court and missing their first three shots. The Sailfish scored the first points of the contest, but they were also plagued by miscues and four minutes into the contest, the visitors only led 4-0.
At the 5:19 mark,
Taylor Cyphers broke the Eagles' scoring drought with a layup and that triggered a 12-2 run that gave the Blue and Gold a 12-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Eagles connected on only three of their 15 shot attempts for a total of six points, while on the other side of the ball, the Sailfish' 5-of-6 shooting from the charity strip helped them to 13 second period points and a 19-18 lead at the half.
The first five minutes of the third period saw PBA extend their advantage to eight points (31-23), but as was the case in the first period, the Eagles were able to put together another run to overtake the visitors. An
Ashley McWilliams layup keyed the Eagle comeback as ERAU outscored PBA 9-2 over the last 5:21 to take a 34-33 lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter featured two ties and three lead changes, but at the end of regulation the score was tied 46-46.
Free throws proved to be the difference in overtime. The Eagles and the Sailfish scored five and six points, respectively from the field, but while the Sailfish made five trips to the free throw line, connecting on four, the Eagles were 9-for-10, led by a perfect 5-for-5 overtime free throw performance by
Sabrina Whiting. ERAU also came up with some big stops on defense to secure the win.
Sabrina Whiting was the high scorer for the Eagles, finishing with 14 points to go with a career-high eight steals, four rebounds and two assists. PBA's Hannah Grim led all scorers with 23 points in the Sailfish effort.
The Eagles will play their first road contest of the year on Saturday when they make the short trip to Melbourne face Florida Tech in a 1 p.m. tilt.
