DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team dropped a 77-71 decision to the visiting Barry Buccaneers on Wednesday night inside the ICI Center.
Mercedes Jorge scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 13 boards to record her sixth double-double of the season. With the loss, ERAU falls to 6-19 on the season, while Barry improves to 18-8.
"I'm very proud of how our girls performed tonight," ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson said. "We were so close and once we learn how to really value every possession offensively and defensively, we will get over that hump and start winning some games. Barry is a great shooting team and they are one of the top teams in the conference. They have a handful of seniors who made some good shots down the stretch along with free throws when it counted."
"I am so very proud of our two seniors and what they have done for our new program on the court and off," Nuxol-Wilson said of
Kalah Martin and
Taylor Cyphers. "They are special young ladies as our first alumni of our program, I can't wait to see all the great things they will do in the next phase of their life."
Sabrina Whiting tallied 14 points while
Lauren Ellenberger tied a career-high with eight assists. Playing in their final home games at Embry-Riddle, Cyphers scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds while Martin registered six points, four rebounds and three assists.
The teams traded baskets for much of the first quarter, with Barry taking a 22-19 lead on a last-second triple from Amra Elezovic.
The Blue and Gold took its largest lead of the contest in the second quarter when Jorge knocked down a jumper with 5:35 left to put the home team in front, 28-23. From that point, the Bucs outscored the Eagles 17-3 to retake the lead and head into halftime with a 40-31 advantage.
BU extended its lead to double-digits for the first time with just under two minutes to play in the third quarter (55-44) and held a 55-47 lead going to the fourth period.
ERAU mounted a comeback late in the fourth, going on a 7-0 run to pull within five (69-64), but that was as close as the Eagles would get as Barry knocked down its free throws down the stretch to seal a 76-71 win.
The Eagles will travel to Boca Raton on Saturday to close out the Sunshine State Conference schedule with a 2 p.m. contest at Lynn.
