DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Led by a career-high 20-point effort from
Laniere Coleman, the Embry-Riddle women's basketball team held on for a 64-63 victory over visiting Lynn on Saturday night at the ICI Center. The Eagles improve to 10-4 with the win, while LU falls to 7-6.
Coleman tallied her 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and added eight rebounds and a pair of blocks as well.
Lauren Ellenberger scored 11 points and dished out six assists while
Sabrina Whiting chipped in nine points and six assists.
Mercedes Jorge pulled down a team-best nine rebounds while scoring eight points.
The Eagles used a 12-1 run in the final 3:02 of the first quarter to turn a 10-10 tie into a comfortable 22-11 lead at the end of the period. Jorge sparked the run with a three-pointer and capped the scoring in the quarter with a layup.
Lynn battled back in the second quarter, using an early 7-2 spurt to trim the deficit to five points by the 7:08 mark. The Eagles were able to stem the tide and carried a four-point lead (30-26) into the locker room at the half.
The Fighting Knights came out quickly in the second half, scoring seven straight points after
Tara Fields scored on a layup to open the scoring, pushing Lynn to a 33-32 lead. A triple from Ellenberger quickly put the Eagles back in front (35-33) and the Blue and Gold maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the frame, holding a 47-42 lead after three quarters of play.
ERAU continued to lead in the opening stages of the final period, and with 5:29 on the clock a Coleman layup made it 56-50 Eagles. Exactly three minutes later, Lynn drew even on a Jaylen Snipes jumper to tie the game at 58. Fields made a free throw to give Embry-Riddle a one-point lead (59-58) but was denied a second free throw due to a lane violation on ERAU. Paola Vazquez scored a fastbreak layup to give Lynn a 60-59 lead just a few seconds later. On the ensuing Embry-Riddle possession, Fields missed a pair of free throws but redeemed herself by completing a three-point play after Jorge pulled down a huge offensive rebound to give the Eagles a second chance. Coleman extended the lead to 64-60 with a jumper with 48 seconds left, which would prove to be a vital two points. Snipes split a pair of free throws with 44 seconds left and the Fighting Knights got the ball back 20 seconds later when Coleman threw it away. Snipes eventually made a layup with just six seconds on the clock to make it a one-point game (64-63). The Blue and Gold inbounded to Ellenberger who was fouled with three seconds left and proceeded to miss both free throws, giving Lynn a chance to steal a win. The Fighting Knights were able to get the ball down low to Marta Oledzka, who had 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting at that point, but her 12th shot was denied by Coleman. The blocked shot by Coleman sealed the victory for ERAU, 64-63.
Next up for the Eagles is a road trip to Miami Shores to take on Barry next Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2 p.m.
