DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team faced a tough opponent in its 2019-20 season-opening game on Saturday, hosting fifth-ranked Virginia Union at the ICI Center.  The Panthers were led by reigning CIAA Player of the Year Shareka McNeill who scored 44 points to lead VUU to a 92-64 win over the Blue and Gold.
 
Sarah Jones led the way for the Eagles with 17 points, while Nikki Tucker added 13 points and five rebounds and freshman Rachel Murray chipped in 12 points and four boards.
 
The Eagles scored the first bucket of the contest – a three-pointer by Rachel Murray – but the Panthers quickly took over the lead and used a 16-7 run to take an 11-point advantage. The Panthers, led by 19 points from McNeill, were 13-of-23 shooting from the field in the second quarter and that propelled the visitors to a 55-30 lead at the half.
 
Nikki Tucker knocked down a three at the start of the third quarter to make it 55-35, but that's as close as the Eagles would get as the Panthers shot 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the field in the third and finished at a 48.6 percent clip for the game on the way to the win.
 
"Obviously this wasn't the outcome we wanted, however, it's a good opportunity for our players to learn from and its showed us the areas we need to improve offensively and defensivelym" ERAU Head Coach Lisa Wilson said. "We just need to work on sticking to the game plan and the five players on the court being on the same page together, which takes some time with so many newcomers. We didn't have a lot of time to prepare for this team and we have a quick turnaround for our next opponent , but we will definitely go back to this film get better from it!"
 
The Eagles take their first road trip of the season on Monday when the travel to Alabama to take on Spring Hill. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.