ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's team gave ninth-ranked Eckerd all it could handle in Sunshine State Conference play on Wednesday. The Eagles played the home team tough for 40 minutes before being edged by the Tritons 66-62 at Eckerd's McArthur Center. The loss puts the Eagles at 7-5 overall and 2-4 in the league, while Tritons, who are 12-2 overall, remain unbeaten in league play at 7-0.
Wednesday's game got off to a slow start offensively with both sides combining for just eight points in the first seven minutes, resulting in a 4-4 tie. Cirkeli Rimdalli broke the deadlock with a layup for Eckerd and the Tritons ended the first quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 12-6 lead.
After turning the ball over 11 times and managing just three made field goals in the first quarter, the Eagles settled into the game in the second. The Tritons increased their lead to nine to start the quarter, but then
Madyson Jean-Louis took over for the Blue and Gold. The sophomore outscored Eckerd 10-0 by herself over the next four minutes, pulling the Eagles level with the Tritons at 18-18.
Sarah Napoli's three gave the Eagles their first lead (21-20) of the evening with 1:42 left in the half. However, the Tritons went 4-for-4 from the free throw line over the next minute to go back up by three (24-21). An Eagle miss gave the ball back to the Tritons with nine seconds left, but Jean-Louis stole the inbounds pass and finished the uncontested layup to cut the Eckerd advantage to 24-23 at the half.
Although the Eagles bettered the Tritons' 40 percent (6-of-15) effort from the field with a 58.3 percent (7-of-12) shooting clip, Eckerd was able to heat up from long range, knocking down four threes compared to just one by the Eagles. The Tritons were also successful on each of their free throw attempts while ERAU missed its only free throw off the quarter and that helped Eckerd take a six-point (44-38) lead into the final frame.
The story of the fourth quarter for the Eagles was the play of
Eva Zaragoza. The junior entered the game at the 8:13 mark of the fourth after not playing a single minute of the first three quarters and hit all four of her field goal attempts, including a pair from long range. Her efforts helped the Eagles reduce a 14-point deficit and with 21.7 seconds left
Sydney Jones finished a layup and the and-one to make it a four-point (66-62) game. After the Tritons missed a wide-open layup, the Blue and Gold got the defensive rebound with 16.3 seconds remaining. The Eagles controlled the offensive boards and got two good looks from long range, but the ball bounced off the rim in each case, allowing Eckerd to escape with the win.
Jean-Louis finished with a game-high 16 points to go with three rebounds and two assists. Zaragoza totaled 10 points, while Jones tallied nine points and six boards.
The Eagles return to the ICI Center at 4 p.m. on Saturday to host Florida Southern in another SSC fixture.
The 2022-23 Embry-Riddle women's basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.
