WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team returned to the win column with a decisive 69-38 road win against Palm Beach Atlantic as Sunshine State Conference play continued on Wednesday. The Eagles, who allowed just five points in the first 10 minutes of play, improved their overall record to 8-12 and their league mark to 6-8. 
 
Nikki Tucker led all players with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, and finished with seven rebounds, four steals and two assists.
 
ERAU proved to be the dominant team from the first whistle, rattling off eight unanswered points to start the contest. The Eagles, who were 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the floor in the first quarter, were also unrelenting on defense. The Blue and Gold forced seven turnovers and converted those miscues into 10 points, which helped ERAU to a 22-5 lead heading into the second frame.
 
After scoring four points in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, the Sailfish offense went silent over the next seven minutes. The Eagles were only 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from the field and 50 percent (3-of-6) from beyond the arc in the second quarter, but the PBAU scoring drought helped ERAU outscore the home team 15-6, and at the half the Eagle lead had ballooned to 26 (37-11).
 
The Sailfish scoring output improved in the third quarter as they scored 10 points in that 10-minute stretch after managing just 11 in the entire first half. The effort was not enough to slow ERAU, however, as the Eagles widened the gap to 37 points (55-18) before taking a 55-21 advantage into the final period.
 
While the Eagles had the game comfortably in hand, the Sailfish continued to battle. PBAU went on a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter and outscored the Eagles 17-14 in the final 10 minutes of play. But the damage done by the Eagles in the first half was too much for PBAU to overcome and ERAU departed West Palm Beach with the victory.
 
Sia Williams had a team-best seven points, while Ciara Cumbie posted a game-high 12 rebounds for a Sailfish team that falls to 3-17 overall and 1-12 in the SSC with the loss.
 
The Eagles will be back at the ICI Center at 4 p.m. on Saturday to host Barry in another Sunshine State Conference battle.