DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team turned in its best shooting performance thus far this season in an 83-54 win over Saint Leo on Saturday. The win gave the Eagles a 4-0 overall record and a 2-0 mark in Sunshine State Conference play, and matched the program's best season-opening win streak.
 
The Eagles shot 58.5 percent (31-of-53) from the field and were 15-of-19 from the charity stripe, and were dominant on the glass, out-rebounding the Lions (1-3, 0-2) 44-19.
 
Saturday's win was the product of a strong team performance as five Eagle players scored in double figures and 10 of the 12 players that took the court got into the scoring column. For the third straight game, Tara Fields was the Eagles' scoring leader, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds, while Nikki Tucker was just one rebound shy of her second double-double of the year with 13 points and a game-high nine boards. Sophomore Marisa Koopman had a career-best 11 points and four rebounds, and Lauren Ellenberger and Sigrid Sandstrom added 10 points apiece.
 
The Eagles got off to a fast start, going 9-for-17 from the field in the first quarter. Fields proved to be a difficult matchup for the Lions inside as she scored 10 points in the paint in the first 10 minutes of play, including a layup that gave ERAU a nine-point (15-6) lead with 2:08 left in the first.
 
The Lions managed to narrow the gap to five (19-14) in the latter part of the first quarter and at the 4:41 mark in the second, the Eagle lead was down to three (27-24). That was as close as they would get, however, as a 12-4 run swelled the ERAU lead to 11 (39-28) at the half.
 
The third quarter saw the Eagles shoot 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from behind the three point line to continue build on their advantage, and the home team shut the door for good in the fourth period, outscoring Saint Leo 21-9 to seal the win.
 
"We are finally starting to have some things click defensively for us," ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson noted. "When we are focused and commit to our game plan, we see the results. Our bench did a great job again and we did an amazing job rebounding tonight as a team. I'm very happy with our defensive rotations tonight and the adjustments we made in the second half. St Leo is a dangerous team, who can really shoot the three. It's hard to guard a team like that, that spreads the floor with five shooters.
 
"I would like to see us take better care of the ball. We had a lot of unforced turnovers and some turnovers from their traps when we were careless with the ball. We need to get better at that and consistently value possessions."
 
Rage Dotson posted a game-high 16 points for a Saint Leo team that fell to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in league play.
 
Next up for the Blue and Gold is the NSU Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Nova Southeastern, Nov. 24-25. The Eagles will take on Lee at 4 p.m. on Friday followed by a rematch against West Alabama at noon on Saturday.