DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team came up short on Wednesday night, falling to the visiting Nova Southeastern Sharks by a score of 56-51. The Eagles forced 23 NSU turnovers but shot just 35.6 percent from the floor in dropping their fifth game out of their last six contests to fall to 14-9 on the season. NSU, which shot 43.8 percent from the field, improves to 15-10 with the victory.
 
Fields led all scorers with 19 points and collected a team-high eight rebounds while Sabrina Whiting contributed an efficient 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Lauren Ellenberger tallied game-highs in assists (7) and steals (4).
 
The Sharks used a 12-0 run in the latter stages of the first quarter to run out to an 18-5 lead early on in the contest. A late three from Ashley McWilliams made it a 10-point deficit (18-8) at the end of the first quarter.
 
After NSU opened the scoring in the second period with a triple to increase its lead to 21-8, Embry-Riddle rattled off 12 consecutive points to trim the margin down to a single point (21-20) with 4:27 left in the first half. The Sharks stemmed the tide and were able to head into the locker room up 28-24.
 
The Eagles picked up where they left off in the second half, scoring the first five points of the third quarter to take a 29-28 lead. A Whiting jumper with 6:17 left in the quarter made it a three-point lead (33-30) and the Blue and Gold would finish out the period leading by a point, 37-36.
 
ERAU got off to a good start in the fourth, pulling out to a 41-36 lead, its largest of the evening, just under three minutes into the period. The Eagles maintained the lead until the closing stages of the game when Nova Southeastern mounted a furious late-game comeback. A layup from Christen Prasse brought NSU to within a point (49-48) with 1:26 left and after Fields missed a jumper, Amanda Tivenius put the Sharks ahead 50-49 with a jumper of her own with 51 seconds on the clock. The Eagles briefly regained the lead when Ellenberger found Whiting on a beautiful inbounds play to allow Whiting an open look, which she buried to put ERAU ahead 51-50 with 33 seconds left. Prasse answered with a tough jumper at the other end with 15 ticks to go, giving NSU a 52-51 lead. The Sharks then stepped up their defensive effort, stealing the ball on each of ERAU's final two possessions. Nova Southeastern knocked down its free throws to seal the 56-51 victory.
 
The Eagles are back at home on Saturday evening to host Florida Tech at 5 p.m. as part of another doubleheader with the men's team.