DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team led by as many as 12 points but had to hold off a strong rally by Saint Leo to come away from the Marion Bowman Athletic Center with a 66-62 win over the Lions (8-13, 3-10) on Saturday. Saint Leo cut the lead to three late in the contest, but the Eagles were able to keep the Lions at bay, improving to 15-4 overall and 9-3 in the Sunshine State Conference.
 
Nikki Tucker and Saint Leo's Alina Gallagher were the game's high scorers with 18 points apiece. Sabrina Whiting tallied 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while Lauren Ellenberger contributed 11 points, four rebounds and four assists to the Eagle win.
 
Both teams struggled to put points on the board at the start of the game, combining for just 17 points at the end of the first quarter. ERAU and Saint Leo each managed just four made field goals in the period and the end of the first 10 minutes of play, the Eagles held a slim 9-8 advantage.
 
The game remained close throughout the next 10 minutes and at the end of the second frame, the Eagles had one more made field goal than the Lions, resulting in a 25-22 Eagle lead at the half.
 
Gina Brierley scored the first bucket of the third quarter to make it a one-point (25-24) game. After misses by both teams, Ellenberger fed Tara Fields in the post for her third basket of the game and that keyed an 8-2 run that put ERAU up 33-26 with 6:28 left in the quarter. The Blue and Gold continued to build on the advantage and with 1:49 left in the period, the lead was 12 (46-34). However the visitors were unable to score another point, and at the end of the third, the Lions had closed the gap to seven points (46-39).
 
With 6:32 left in the contest, Ellenberger drilled one of her two three-pointers to put the Eagles back up by 10 (55-45). The next two minutes yielded just three points for the Lions and two for the Eagles, but on their next trip down the court, the Lions got a three from Izabell Skoogh and she followed with a pair of free throws on the next Saint Leo possession to cut the lead to 58-55 with 3:50 remaining.
 
The next Eagle possession saw Whiting knock down a trey of her own, and after grabbing the rebound off a Saint Leo miss, Ellenberger went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to widen the gap to nine (66-57) with 35 seconds left to play. Following a Brierley layup, the Eagles had a chance to add to their tally from the free throw line, but they missed both attempts and Gallagher hit a long-range shot as time expired, resulting in the 66-62 final score.
 
Their next game will see the Eagles host Rollins at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the ICI Center.