LAKELAND, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Florida Southern squad on Saturday as the Lady Mocs were 63 percent from long range and 85 percent from the free throw line en route to an 81-52 win over the Eagles at FSC's Jenkins Fieldhouse. The loss drops the Eagles to 7-12 overall and 5-8 in Sunshine State Conference play, while FSC improves to 13-8 overall and are tied for second in the league at 10-3.
For the game, the Eagles were 18-of-43 from the field, 12-of-21 in free throws and just 4-of-17 in three-point attempts. The Jones trio and
Rachel Murray led the Eagle effort with
Sydney Jones scoring a team-high 15 points,
Sarah Jones adding 12 points and
Imani Jones and Murray contributing seven points apiece.
Imani Jones also led the Eagles on the glass with six rebounds.
On the other side of the ball, five Lady Moccasin players scored in double figures led by 18 points from Julia Jenike. Jenike was 6-of-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc for a Florida Southern team that made 30 of their 58 field goal attempts, including 10-of-16 threes, and went 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles played the Lady Mocs tough in a first quarter that featured four ties and one lead change.
Sarah Jones scored 10 points in the period to lead the Blue and Gold and heading into the second it was a two-point game with Florida Southern leading 17-15.
The game remained closed to start the second quarter and at the 5:30 mark,
Sydney Jones made a layup to tie things up at 22-22. The second quarter media timeout with 4:16 left in the period appeared to spark something in the FSC offense as they went on an 18-2 run to end the half up by 16 (40-24).
The Eagles continued to struggle on the offensive end in the third frame as they went a little over four minutes before scoring the first points of the third quarter, which allowed the Mocs to open up a 47-24 lead. ERAU was able to cut the lead to 16 points, but FSC edged ERAU 18-16 in the third and outscored the Eagles 23-12 in the fourth to secure the win.
Next up for ERAU is another road trip on Wednesday. The Eagles will travel to West Palm Beach for a 5:30 p.m. tip against Palm Beach Atlantic.
