LAKELAND, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team notched a hard-fought win on the road on Wednesday, topping Florida Southern 72-70 at the Moccasins' Jenkins Fieldhouse. The Eagles moved to 7-1 overall and 3-1 in the Sunshine State Conference, while FSC fell to 7-2 on the year and 3-2 in league play.
 
Wednesday's win was ERAU Women's Basketball's first on the Moccasins' home court and saw three Eagle players score in double figures. Tara Fields tallied a team-best 22 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Ashley McWilliams matched her season-high in scoring with 10 points two assists and two rebounds off the bench. After a quiet start, Nicole Tucker caught fire late, scoring a career-high 19 points to go with five boards and two assists.
 
"It wasn't a pretty win, but any road win in this conference is a good one!" ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson stated. "We stayed together down the stretch and played hard. I'm proud of our entire team for being there for each other on the court and on the bench tonight. "
 
The Eagle offense got off to a slow start, going nearly three minutes without scoring a point to open the game. The Eagles' shooting woes were further compounded when Fields went to the bench with an early foul.  The Moccasins, who scored 16 points in the paint in the first, capitalized on the advantage inside and raced out to an 11-2 lead. With the Eagles trailing by 10 (18-8), Fields re-entered the game at the 2:58 mark and immediately took over the offense, scoring six straight points to pull the Eagles within four (18-14). Mercedez Clayborne made a layup with 28 seconds left to make it a six-point game, but McWIlliams answered immediately with a three on the other end and at the end of the period, the FSC lead was 20-17.
 
The second quarter was evenly contested with the Eagles and the Moccasins tallying 18 points apiece in the frame. Once again, the Eagles struggled to get things going offensively at the start of the quarter. The only Eagle points in the first three minutes of the period came from the charity stripe and at the 6:48 mark, the FSC lead had grown to seven (26-19).
 
With 3:22 remaining in the half, McWilliams drained her second three of the contest. The basket provided the Eagle offense with a much-needed spark and the Blue and Gold outscored the home team 11-0 over the next 1:37 to move ahead 30-26. The next three minutes featured three ties and two lead changes and at the intermission, it was Florida Southern who held a 38-35 advantage.
 
The Eagles were 5-of-7 from the free throw line in the third, while FSC was unsuccessful in their only free throw attempt, but the Moccasins connected on seven field goals, compared to just four by the Eagles and that helped the home team widen the gap to five points (53-48) heading into the fourth.
 
The fourth quarter saw the Blue and Gold shoot 60 percent (9-of-15) from the field, 66.7 (2-of-3) percent from long range and 80 percent (4-of-5) from the free throw line. Jensen Blassage scored the first bucket of the period to put the Moccasins up 55-48. Tucker hit a layup on the Eagles' next trip down the court and that basket ignited a 12-point fourth-quarter by the ERAU freshman. Tucker made three straight layups and connected on back-to-back threes to put the Eagles back in front, 59-57 with 6:06 remaining in the contest.
 
From that point, a back-and-forth battle ensued. With 2:05 on the clock, Fields was fouled on her way to the basket and the senior, who was a career-best 10-of-11 from the free throw line, finished the three-point play to put the Eagles up 69-67. After Sabrina Whiting extended the lead to four points (71-67) with her pull-up jumper, Anja Fuchs-Robeten, who had 29 points and 13 boards, knocked down a three to make it a one-point (71-70) game.
 
The Moccasins had a chance to take the lead after the Eagles' missed a layup and were penalized for a shot clock violation with 25 seconds left to play, but Camille Giardana missed the layup and then sent Fields, who got the rebound, back to the free throw line with four seconds remaining. Fields made 1-of-2 and the Moccasins ran out of time trying to get the ball down the court, resulting in the Eagle victory.
 
The Eagles, who have only had one home game so far this season, will finally return to the ICI Center on Friday for the first of three straight non-conference contests, hosting Flagler at 7 p.m.