DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team suffered its third home loss of the season on Wednesday, falling to Florida Tech (8-17, 4-13 SSC) 78-60 at the ICI Center. Now 16-9 overall, the Eagles were unable to overcome a slow start on the offensive end, and moved to 11-7 in the Sunshine State Conference with the loss.
 
ERAU shot well below its 42.1 percent average, managing just 24.9 percent (22-63) from the field and 27.8 percent (10-of-36) from beyond the arc. The Eagle defense forced 18 Panther turnovers, but Florida Tech won the rebounding battle as well as the battle inside, outdoing the Eagles 40-27 on the boards and outscoring the home team 38-20 in the paint.
 
The Eagles managed just seven points on three made field goals in the first 10 minutes of play, and at the end of the first quarter, the visiting Panthers held a 16-7 lead.
 
ERAU was able to improve its shooting percentage in the second frame, matching Florida Tech's 7-for-17 first quarter output. The Eagles' 41.2 percent clip from the field was good, but the Panthers were better. They shot 75 percent from the field, including a perfect 5-for-5 from long range to take a 41-27 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Panthers were not as prolific from long range in the third, but they managed to build the lead to as many as 23 points (59-36) before going into the final period with a 19-point (63-44) advantage.
 
Florida Tech maintained the 19-point lead until the 4:08 mark when Lauren Ellenberger knocked down back to back 3-pointers to make it a 12-point (70-57) game. Sigrid Sandstrom pulled down a rebound on the next Panthers possession and the Eagles looked to the three once again to cut further into the lead, but Sarah Jones was unable to find the mark with 2:50 remaining and the Panthers closed out the game on an 8-2 run to secure the win.
 
Ellenberger was the Eagles' high scorer with 15 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Nikki Tucker and Jones added 13 and 11 points, respectively, with Tucker matching Ellenberger's rebounding performance with six.
 
The Panthers also had three players in double figures led by Tereza Sedlakova with 18 and Cheyenne Scott who scored all 17 of her points in the second half.
 
The Eagles will play their final regular season home game on Saturday when they host Palm Beach Atlantic in a 4 p.m. tilt.