DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team suffered its fourth loss of the season on Monday night, falling to Catawba 82-74 at the ICI Center. The game was close after the first 20 minutes of play, but a turnover-plagued third quarter proved to be the Eagles' undoing as they drop to 5-4 on the year, while the Lady Indians remain unbeaten at 9-0.
The first six minutes of action featured four ties and five lead changes and at the four-minute mark, the game was tied at 12-12. On the Indians' next trip down the floor, Taisha DeShazo knocked down her first three of the game, which keyed a 13-4 Lady Indian run and led to a 25-16 Catawba lead at the end of the first quarter.
After making only two of their seven three-point attempts in the first quarter, the Eagles heated up from long range in the second period, drilling six treys and shooting 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the field. Trailing by 10 early in the frame, the Eagles got back-to-back threes from
Nikki Tucker and
Sarah Jones to cut the lead to six (30-24). The Lady Indians held on to the six-point advantage until the 5:20 mark when
Shelby Bischoff connected on a three-pointer of her own to make the score 32-29.
The Bischoff three prompted a Catawba timeout and coming out of the huddle, the Lady Indians built the lead back up to seven (38-31), but two unanswered threes in the late stages of the period made it a one-point (43-42) game in favor of the visitors. After Catawba hit a layup with 10 seconds to go back up by three, Jones took control of the ball and heaved a shot from half court, but her attempt went half way down before rattling out of the rim, making it a 45-42 game for the Lady Indians at the half.
Any momentum the Blue and Gold may have had to end the first half disappeared in the third quarter. In a period that saw the Eagles come up empty on their first 16 possessions, ERAU turned the ball over 13 times and managed just one made field goal. The Lady Indians were only 6-of-20 from the field, but it was enough to give them 13-point (60-47) lead heading into the final frame.
The fourth quarter was a different story for Embry-Riddle. The Eagles were 11-of-18 from the field, 3-of-6 from long range and outscored Catawba 27-22, but the damage done in the third quarter was too much to overcome, and the Lady Indians came away with the eight-point win.
Sarah Jones led all players with a career high 23 points, while Tucker added 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
DeShazo was the leading scorer for Catawba with 20 points.
Next for the Eagles is a quick trip to Kentucky for a 7 p.m. tip against Bellarmine on Wednesday.
