DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team put on a dominant performance on Saturday night, running out to a 30-10 halftime lead en route to a 66-38 victory over Saint Leo. With the win, the Eagles improve to 13-4 and 10-1 against Sunshine State Conference opponents, while the Lions fall to 5-12 this season.
 
"Our team and individual defense tonight was very good," Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson said. We achieved all of our game goals that we set for ourselves and it was a total team effort across the board."
 
Sabrina Whiting led the way with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 6-of-10 from behind the arc, while also grabbing six rebounds. Tara Fields added 11 points off the bench while Ashley McWilliams, Lauren Ellenberger and Laniere Coleman each contributed eight points.
 
The Blue and Gold played suffocating defense in the first half, limiting the Lions to just six points in the first period and four points in the second. Saint Leo was held off the scoreboard completely for the first 7:22 of the contest, while ERAU jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Embry-Riddle held a comfortable 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and didn't let up in the second period, outscoring the Lions 14-4 to head into the locker room with a commanding 30-10 advantage.
 
A Coleman jumper with 7:09 to play in the third pushed the Eagle lead to 28 points (40-12) and the outcome was never in doubt for the rest of the game. ERAU led 53-28 at the end of three periods and pushed its lead to as many as 36 points (66-30) in the final quarter, with the final tally finishing at 66-38 in favor of the Eagles.
 
"Our mental toughness and maturity is definitely improving as the program grows," Nuxol-Wilson said. "These girls play so hard and compete for one another and I'm really proud of their progress."
 
The Eagles kick off a three-game road trip on Wednesday, Jan. 25 when they travel to Eckerd for another doubleheader with the men's team. The women are slated to tip off at 5:30 p.m.