DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team led from start-to-finish on Saturday in a 65-45 defeat of Florida Tech. The Eagles got a double-double from Mercedes Jorge as the improved to 15-9 on the season, while FIT dropped to 11-13.
 
"I'm really proud of the team for stepping up and competing tonight," Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson said. "We were strong with the ball and played very physical. We worked on boxing out on the glass because we knew how poorly we did in that aspect the last time we played them. Everyone worked hard in practice these last two days to prepare and tonight it paid off with a total team effort and a solid team win."
 
Jorge notched her third double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Tara Fields poured in a game-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Sigrid Sandstrom added 13 points and Lauren Ellenberger tallied five points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
 
 The Eagles got an early jump on the Panthers, and within the first 3:22 the Blue and Gold had run out to a 6-1 lead. ERAU would finish the first quarter leading 16-9.
 
In the second period, Florida Tech was able to trim the deficit to a single point (18-17) at the halfway mark of the quarter, but less than three minutes later the Eagles had recovered and pulled ahead, 27-18. ERAU eventually finished the half up by 12 (34-22) thanks to a pair of Jorge layups in the final minute.
 
Another Jorge layup with 6:51 to play in the third quarter pushed the Eagle lead to 15 (40-25), and Embry-Riddle would finish out the period with a comfortable 45-36 advantage.
 
ERAU came out on fire in the final quarter, scoring the first nine points in just over two minutes to pull out to a 54-36 lead. Florida Tech couldn't mount any sort of comeback and the Eagles cruised to a 65-45 win.
 
The Eagles are back on the court next Wednesday, Feb. 22, when they visit Palm Beach Atlantic for their final road contest of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.