DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team battled hard to erase a nine-point deficit to Eckerd late in the game, but the Eagles were unable to get by the Tritons (9-6), falling 70-58 at the ICI Center on Wednesday.

"That was another tough one for us down the stretch tonight," Eagles Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson said. "We came out pretty flat the first half and fought back again in the second half. So I'm really proud of the girls for that. In the last three and a half minutes, we made some poor decisions and missed shots and Eckerd capitalized on that. We can definitely learn from it." 

The Eagles scored the first points of the game and remained in front of the Tritons for the majority of the first 10 minutes of play, leading 16-15 at the end of the first quarter.

The Eagles struggled to get their offense going in the second period, however, missing their first nine attempts of the quarter and turning the ball over on four possessions. The Tritons, on the other hand, managed to connect four times from the field and four times from the charity stripe to open up a nine-point (25-16) lead.

Sabrina Whiting finally ended the Eagles' scoring drought with a jumper at the 4:27 mark and over the next three minutes, the Eagles outscored the Tritons 6-3 to make it a 28-24 game.

The Eagles had the last shot of the half and with time ticking down, they got the ball to Lauren Ellenberger on the left side. The freshman's shot from beyond the arc appeared to be on target at the buzzer, but the ball went in and out of the cylinder allowing the Tritons to take the four-point lead into the locker room.

Whiting was able to cut the Eckerd lead to 28-27 with a three-pointer to start the third quarter, but the Tritons responded with a triple of their own by Margaret Sundberg, and went on to build the lead back up to seven (48-41) heading into the fourth.

A free throw and a three-pointer on consecutive possessions helped the Tritons widen the gap to 52-41 to start the final quarter. On the next Eagle possession Ellenberger corralled a Whiting miss and her uncontested jump shot in the paint sparked a 13-2 Eagle run, which included a Mercedes Jorge trey with the shot clock winding down that made it a four-point game (54-50) with 6:02 left to play.

Following a pair of Whiting free throws, Kalah Martin drove to the basket and her layup tied things up at 54-54.

At the 3:38 mark, Laniere Coleman's layup gave the Blue and Gold its first lead since the first quarter, but Eckerd's defense was able to quiet the Eagle offense in the closing minutes, while the offense went on a 12-0 run to close out the game and seal the win.

Whiting had a game-high 15 points, matching the 15-point output by Eckerd's Sundberg. Jorge earned her second double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 boards, while Ellenberger finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Now 5-11 on the year, the Eagles will look to rebound against Florida Tech when the Panthers come to the ICI Center on Saturday for a 5 p.m. tip.