DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Sydney Jones had a career-high 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as the Embry-Riddle women's basketball team used a huge fourth quarter to down Christian Brothers, 79-65 in the final game of the 2021 Bahama House Classic. The Eagles (2-0) were down by as many as seven in the third quarter, but outscored the Bucs (1-1) by 17 in the final period to finish undefeated in the weekend tournament.

The first two quarters of the contest could not have been more different as the host Eagles enjoyed a big first quarter advantage before the Bucs pulled a 180 in the second quarter to take a 45-42 lead into the half.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 4-0 lead on back-to-back layups from Nikki Tucker and Sydney Jones, and when Madyson Jean-Louis nailed a triple at the 8:13 mark of the first quarter the Eagles enjoyed a 9-3 advantage. Jean-Louis, who became the first Embry-Riddle legacy student-athlete in athletic department history to appear in a game when she stepped on the court in Friday's season opener, hit a pair of free throws a few minutes later to grow the Eagle lead to 14-6.

Embry-Riddle would go up by as many as 15 points in the following moments, including on a trey by Rachel Murray that made it 21-6, and a little later on when Tucker made a driving layup off a Murray assist. Jones' layup with 19 seconds left in the quarter accounted for the 26-11 score after one after the Blue and Gold forced a missed CBU shot in the waning seconds.

Unfortunately for the home team, the second quarter did not resemble the first with CBU clawing all the way back, starting with a triple from Braylee Mcmath to begin the scoring. Yay Coleman and Darcy Doran also made treys in the first three minutes of the quarter and what was once a 15-point lead at the break was down to six at 28-22 with 7:12 on the clock.

Coleman connected on another three on the next CBU possession and Emily Jones also hit from deep around the six-minute mark as the Eagle lead was just 29-28.

Jenna Tetercyz stopped the bleeding with a jumper, and Liz Behan helped extend the lead with a jumper in the paint and then a layup off a Shelby Bischoff assist.

Leading 35-28 with four minutes before halftime, the Eagles got just six more points while the Bucs exploded for 17, all coming from either Coleman or Emily Jones, as the Bucs took a 45-42 lead into the locker room.

Both teams came out of the break and struggled a bit offensively in the third quarter. ERAU trimmed the deficit to one on a Jean-Louis layup at the 5:44 mark, making it 50-49, but Jones made two free throws to give the Bucs a little breathing room. 

CBU extended the lead to seven when Coleman made a layup with 3:36 left in the third, but Murray came right back and nailed a jumper, followed by two free throws from Murray that cut the Bucs' lead to one possession at 56-53.

After a defensive stop, the Eagles again got a pair of makes at the charity stripe from Murray, but CBU answered with two of their own free throws on the ensuing possession, and the visitors held a 58-55 lead after three quarters.

Neither team would score for the first two minutes of the fourth quarter as the defenses took over, but it was the Bucs to strike first in the period with a layup from Jones, putting the lead at five, 60-55.

Jones finally got the Eagles on the board in the quarter with a tough jumper in the paint at the 6:43 mark, and it was Jean-Louis that got ERAU within a point at 62-61 with a layup with just under five minutes left on the clock.

Coming out of a timeout, Tucker gave the Eagles their first lead of the second half with a driving left-handed layup and then Jean-Louis drew a huge charge from CBU's Jones on the next Buccaneer possession.

ERAU's Jones went coast-to-coast at the three-minute mark, grabbing a rebound and racing to the other end of the floor before converting a layup while being fouled. Jones finished the three-point play to push ERAU's lead to 66-62.

The freshman Jean-Louis took over for ERAU on the next two offensive possessions, making a fantastic jumper in the paint before nailing her second three of the game and the Eagles had a 71-62 lead with two minutes to play.

Macee Sugrue's three-pointer at the 1:36 mark was the final nail in CBU's coffin and the Eagles iced the game at the free throw line.

CBU went nearly six full minutes without scoring in the middle of the last period as the Eagles owned the fourth quarter to the tune of a 24-7 advantage. The Blue and Gold finished the night on a 22-3 run.

In addition to Jones' double-double of 23 points and 15 boards, Jean-Louis finished with 14 points, and Tucker added 11 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Murray came off the bench for nine points and two assists.

ERAU held CBU to 31% shooting for the game, out rebounding the visitors 43-37, and dominating the points in the paint, 40-16.

"We are really proud of the team for these two wins this weekend," ERAU Head Coach Lisa Wilson said. "Tonight they answered the runs that CBU made and found a way to pull out the win against a good team.  I thought we defended down the stretch, and made our free throws.  It felt good to compete again after such a long time and the entire team has been working really hard in practice pushing each other, so we just need to keep that up and enjoy the opportunity to play and grow from each game."

Embry-Riddle heads up to St. Augustine on Saturday, Nov. 20 for a game against Flagler. Tip for the contest is slated for 2 p.m.

The 2021-22 Embry-Riddle Women's Basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.