MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team (3-10) turned in its best first-quarter performance of the season, but the Eagles were unable to sustain that output, falling to Barry (10-4) 79-65 on Saturday.
 
The 14-point margin was not indicative of the entire contest as the game was tied with 5:53 left in the fourth quarter.
 
"I'm really proud of our team," ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson said. "We are growing as a program every game and we have improved in so many areas. We still need to focus for four quarters and put a complete game together, and that's going to come with experience. Barry is a senior-laden team with good, experienced players and they stepped up in crunch time. As a young program, we have to learn from every game, win or lose, and our girls are doing that. It's just going to take time for us to gain that level of experience." 
 
The Eagles opened the game shooting a blistering 71.4 percent from the field, including a 3-for-3 clip from beyond the arc in the first period. Paced by Sabrina Whiting's 14 first-quarter points, the Eagles led by as many as 10 before closing out the quarter with a 26-18 lead.
 
Barry went on an 8-2 run to start the second quarter, reducing the Eagle lead to just two points (28-26). Over the next four minutes, the teams traded baskets and at the 1:47 mark, the Bucs had overtaken the Eagles 40-39. The final 1:15 of the half belonged to the Eagles who outscored Barry 5-0 to take a 45-40 lead into the break.
 
The Bucs scored the first five points of the second half in 30 seconds to quickly tie the score at 45. The Blue and Gold answered that rally with a 4-0 run of their own and at the close of the third still held a two-point (56-54) advantage.
 
The start of the fourth quarter featured a back-and-forth battle and at the 5:53 mark, Lauren Ellenberger knocked down a pair of free throws for knot the score at 65, marking the fourth tie of the period.
 
Miscues plagued the Eagle offense in the latter part of the period and turnovers, coupled with the Eagles' 2-of-11 shooting helped the Bucs take over the lead for good on the way to their 10^th win of the season.
 
Whiting paced the ERAU offense with a game-high 18 points and was joined in double figures by Mercedes Jorge who added 16 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists.
 
The Eagles close out their two-game road swing on Wednesday at Saint Leo. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.