LAS VEGAS, Nevada – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball suffered a loss in its first game at the Trip Sports Las Vegas Hoopla on Monday, falling to Pittsburg State (6-2) 72-59. The Eagles are now 6-3 on the year and will wrap up tournament play against Washburn at 2 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday.
 
The Eagles had more looks at the basket than Pittsburg State in the first quarter, but it was the Gorillas who did a better of job of capitalizing on their chances as a 63.6 percent (7-of-11) shooting clip staked them to a 17-13 lead at the end of the first 10 minutes of play.
 
ERAU was able to rally in the second period. With her team trailing 22-15, Nikki Tucker hit a three-pointer at the 7:32 mark which keyed a 7-0 Eagle run. Morgan Ackermann's trey with 4:33 left in the period capped the run and gave the Blue and Gold its first lead of the game. The remainder of the quarter featured two ties, two lead changes and a five-point spurt by Sarah Jones that sent ERAU into the halftime break with a 34-32 edge.
 
The Eagles led for most of the third quarter, but turnovers on three consecutive ERAU possessions helped the Gorillas reclaim the lead with just over three minutes left. The Eagles were unable to connect on any of their four shot attempts in the last 1:56 and PSU used a pair of free throws and a long-range bucket to widen the gap to six points (53-46) heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Eagle offense went cold in the final frame as they managed just four made field goals in 17 attempts. On the other side of the ball, the Gorillas were 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the field and outscored the Eagles 19-12 to seal the 13-point victory.
 
"We are still learning how to put a complete game together against a good team," ERAU Head Coach Lisa Nuxol-Wilson said following Monday's game. "We had a rough shooting game today, and didn't answer on the defensive end consistently to compensate for our shooting percentage. We are really disappointed with our lack of discipline and toughness down the stretch in the fourth quarter. As bad of a shooting day as we had, we were still in the game with four minutes to go but didn't step up and make the defensive stops we needed to.
We can definitely learn from this loss and playing these tough teams on the road will make us better as long as we grow from them and make the adjustments."
 
Jones led the way for the Eagles with 19 points, while Tucker added 16 points and six rebounds, and Sigrid Sandstrom tallied 11 points and five boards.