DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Sophomore Nikki Tucker posted arguably the best performance in Embry-Riddle Women's Basketball history on Friday as her career-high and program-best 38 points propelled the Eagles to a 104-89 win over West Liberty at the ICI Center. The win improved the Eagles' record to 5-0, while the Hilltoppers fell to 4-3 with the loss.
 
Prior to Saturday's game, Tucker's single-game best was 25 points. She eclipsed that with 33 in the second half alone.
 
Prior to Wednesday's game, the Eagles' highest point total was 91 and their single-game total for made field goals was 37. Both those marks went by the wayside on Saturday as the Blue and Gold reached triple digits for the first time ever and connected on 42 of their 72 field goal attempts to finish with a 58.3 field goal percentage.
 
Lauren Ellenberger posted the second double-double of her career with 18 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to go with five assists and three steals. Sarah Jones and Sigrid Sandstrom added 16 points apiece for an Eagle squad that saw all eight players who took the court appear in the scoring column.
 
Following a closely-contested first quarter that saw WLU take a 28-27 edge, the Hilltoppers shot 10-of-15 from the field in the second, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, to take a six-point (52-46) advantage at the half.
 
The start of the third quarter was all Embry-Riddle. Tucker earned a trip to the charity stripe on the Eagles' first possession and the sophomore knocked down both free throw attempts. Over the next four minutes, ERAU rattled of 17 unanswered points, with 12 of those coming from Tucker, to open up a 10-point (64-54) lead. Tucker finished the quarter with 20 points on 7-of-7 from the field, 2-of-2 from long range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line, but a late surge by the Hilltoppers allowed the visitors to make it a 74-72 game heading into the fourth.
 
The Eagles came out firing again in the fourth quarter as layups by Ellenberger and Jones, and treys by Tucker and Marisa Koopman helped the home team regain a 10-point (84-74) advantage. Morgan Brunner hit a three-pointer at the 7:51 mark to pull WLU within seven (86-77), but that was as close at the Hilltoppers would get as the Blue and Gold shot a blistering 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the field and 80 percent (4-of-5) from behind the arc to secure the 15-point victory.
 
"This was a great effort and focus by our team today," ERAU Head Coach Lisa-Nuxol Wilson said. "West Liberty is a very good team so that was a big win for us, but we are really proud of how we stuck to the game plan and adjusted when we needed to. Our whole team helped prepare each other. We stayed focused and ready and we were really supportive of each other. Everyone did their job and that's going to be huge this season. My staff also did a great job with game prep and calls.

"We need to build on this effort and carry it over every day in practice to continue to get better and start conference play on Wednesday!" 
 
The Eagles open the 2018-19 Sunshine State Conference slate on Wednesday when they travel to Winter Park for a 5:30 p.m. tip against Rollins.