WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team picked up its first loss of the season on Wednesday, falling to Rollins 71-63 on the road in both teams' Sunshine State Conference opener. Ranked No. 22 in the latest WBCA poll, the Eagles are now 5-1 overall and 0-1 in league play, while the Tars, whose head coach Glenn Wilkes Jr. earned his 700^th win on Wednesday, stand at 3-3 on the year.
 
Sigrid Sandstrom led all players with 15 points, while Lauren Ellenberger tallied 14 points, nine boards and four assists in the Eagle effort.
 
The Eagles were 95.2 percent (20-of-21) from the charity stripe, but struggled from the field, connecting on just 19 of 49 field goal attempts and 25 percent (5-of 20) of their long-range shots. Eagle miscues also proved costly as Rollins scored 13 points off ERAU turnovers.
 
ERAU scored the first points of the game at the 9:28 mark of the first quarter and that marked the visitors' only lead of the night. Over the next five minutes, the Tars outscored the Eagles 11-2 and led by nine (18-9) heading into the second period.
 
Rollins led by as many as 12 points early in the second quarter, but an 8-0 run that began with a pair of Sandstrom layups and ended with a Macee Sugrue trey, cut the lead to four points (21-17) with 7:41 left in the frame. The Tars managed to withstand the Eagle surge and carried a 33-26 lead into the halftime break.
 
The third quarter saw the Tars shoot 50 percent (8-of-16) from the field and widen the gap to 11 points (54-43) heading into the final 10 minutes of play. ERAU outscored the Tars 20-17 in the fourth period and cut the lead to eight points on a pair of Ellenberger free throws with 3:37 left to play. Although the Eagles were a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, they were unable to close the gap, resulting in the 71-63 final.
 
The Eagles' will be back at the ICI Center at 4 p.m. on Saturday to host Nova Southeastern in another SSC matchup.