DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team overcame a slow start on Saturday evening to top Nova Southeastern 64-55 in Sunshine State Conference play at the ICI Center. The 22nd-ranked Eagles improved their overall record to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in league play, while the Sharks move to 4-3 and 1-1 in the SSC.

Nikki Tucker led all players with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field an 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Lauren Ellenberger, who was perfect from the charity stripe with a career-high eight free throws, finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Sarah Jones added 10 points and six boards. Jessica Savage also achieved a career-high in Saturday's game with nine points, six of which came in the second quarter.

The Eagles struggled to get anything going offensively at the start of the game and their lowest single-quarter output in almost a year resulted in a 12-7 lead for the visiting team at the end of the first frame.

At the 5:31 mark of the second period, Ellenberger drained her only three-pointer of the first half to pull the Eagles within a point (17-16). The Sharks answered with a layup to extend the lead to three (19-16), but three layups in a row by Jessica Savage gave the Eagles a 22-19 lead. NSU responded with five unanswered points, however, and took a 24-22 advantage into the locker room at the half.

The Sharks shot a respectable 42.9 percent from the field in the third quarter, but it was no match for the Eagles' 61.5 percent output that helped the Blue and Gold take over the lead. NSU led by seven (32-25) with 7:45 left in the quarter, but Jones' second three-point basket of the game triggered a 7-0 Eagle run that knotted the score at 32-32.

On the Sharks' next trip down the floor, Savage picked off a pass by NSU's Iva Ilic and her drive to the basket gave the Eagles the lead and Savage a new career-high scoring tally. From that point, the Eagles never looked back and widened the gap to nine points (45-36) heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

A closely contested fourth quarter saw ERAU and NSU tally 19 points apiece. The Eagles led by as many as 15 points and withstood a surge by the Sharks, led by Taylor Smith's six points, to secure the win.

The Eagles are back on the road on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., traveling to Lakeland to take on reigning SSC champion Florida Southern.