DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A four-point second quarter and five-point third quarter for the Embry-Riddle women's basketball team doomed the Eagles in their first game back from the holiday break on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles (9-3, 3-2) shot just 29 percent from the floor and connected on only 2-of-26 attempts from three as the Tampa Spartans (11-2, 4-2) cruised to a 53-35 victory at the ICI Center. ERAU had no players score in double-figures and even its usually reliable free throw shooting (76 percent for the season) disappeared as the Blue and Gold shot just 5-for-11 from the charity stripe.

Both teams came out of the gates cold thanks to a long layoff, as the score was 2-2 until the 4:41 mark of the first quarter when UT took a 4-2 lead before Lauren Ellenberger knotted it up with a jumper in the paint. ERAU rallied back from an 11-5 deficit with three minutes to play in the period, tying the game on a Sabrina Whiting jumper before the Spartans scored the final bucket of the quarter to take a 13-11 lead, and the visitors would never trail the rest of the game.

Tampa scored the first six points of the second before Nicole Tucker stopped the UT run with a layup, but after Tara Fields scored just her second basket of the afternoon to make it 21-15 UT, the Eagles ended the half on a six-minute scoreless streak, going 0-for-9 down the stretch as the visitors took a 27-15 lead into the break.

Unfortunately for the hosts, a third quarter that had been their best for the previous 11 games of the season proved not to be against UT, with ERAU managing just five points, three coming from Fields and then two off a pair of Whiting free throws late in the quarter, and the Spartans took advantage, growing the lead from a dozen to 19 by the end of the period at 39-20.

The closest the Eagles would get in the fourth was within 17 on a Whiting and-one with 6:45 left, but the Spartan defense proved up to the task in the 53-35 victory.

Ashley McWilliams had eight points off the bench for ERAU, while Fields and Whiting each had seven points for the Blue and Gold.

ERAU will look to respond when they hit the road to take on Lynn on Jan. 3 in Boca Raton. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m.

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