DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Tuesday, falling to Central Missouri 67-50 at the ICI Center. Tuesday's result put both teams' overall records at 4-1 on the year.
The Eagles stayed within striking distance of the Jennies in the first quarter, despite a 13-point burst from Ashley Duffy in that frame. Both teams were 3-for-4 from the free throw line and the Jennies edged the Eagles by just one field goal, but the visiting team shot 60 percent (3-for-5) from long range, compared to just 1-for-2 by the Blue and Gold and that helped UCM to a 22-18 advantage at the end of the first.
In the second period, the Eagles struggled to get anything going offensively, managing to connect on just two of their 20 shot attempts in the quarter. Conversely, the Jennies' 69.2 percent (9-for-13) shooting clip in the frame helped them stake a 20-point lead (42-22) at the half.
Coming out of the halftime break, ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson changed her lineup leaving the majority of the starters on the bench. The adjustment had a positive effect as the Eagles outscored the Jennies 14-8 and narrowed the gap to 14 points (50-36) at the end of the third.
The Eagles continued to chip at the lead early in the fourth and a pair of free throws by
Mercedes Jorge made it an 11-point (53-42) game with 7:26 left to play.
Central Missouri had an answer to the Eagle rally, however, as back-to-back three-pointers by Megan Skaggs quickly widened the gap once again, and the Jennies outscored the Eagles 11-6 down the stretch to come away with the win.
Duffy led all players with 21 points, while
Tara Fields and
Sigrid Sandstrom finished with 10 and nine points, respectively in the Eagle effort.
"We are disappointed in our defensive intensity and execution the first half," ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson commented. "We let one player score 21 points and gave up 42 point in a half. We are better than that defensively and dug ourselves a hole. Central Missouri is a good team and very good shooting team, and that's tough to come back against.
"Hopefully we learn from this loss. We had a really tough shooting night, which compounded things. But those nights are going to happen and we need to rely on our team defense and rebounding. I think this will be good for us in the long run and I believe our team will bounce back and be better from it. "
The Eagles make their second road trip of the year on Saturday when they travel to Dahlonega, Georgia for a 1 p.m. tip against North Georgia.
