DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team wrapped up its pre-holiday slate with a 61-55 win over Edward Waters College at the ICI Center on Friday. Playing in front of 704 elementary school children as part of Education Day, the Eagles improved their overall record to 8-1, while the Tigers dropped to 3-5 overall.
"It wasn't pretty, but we did what we needed to do to win," Embry-Riddle Head Coach
Lisa Wilson said of the third win in a row for an Eagle team ranked 18th in the latest D2 CSC poll. In the first women's basketball game between the two programs, both sides made 22 field goals, but the Eagles had a 5-4 edge in made three-pointers and bested the Tigers 12-7 at the free throw line.
Madyson Jean-Louis led all players with a season-high 21 points to go with five rebounds, while
Keturah Balabyekkubo recorded the Eagles' first double-double of the year with 11 points and 12 boards.
After
Kailey Turpening drained a three to open the game, the teams traded baskets leading to 7-7 tie at the 6:15 mark of the first quarter. A Jean-Louis trey put the Eagles back up by three (10-7) and that triggered a 9-2 run that gave ERAU a 16-9 lead. The Blue and Gold outdid the Tigers 14-4 on the boards, including a 7-3 advantage on the offensive glass that they turned into 10 second chance points, and at the end of the period, the home team led 22-13.
A second-quarter lull featured just three made field goals apiece for the Eagles and the Tigers. This time, Edward Waters controlled the rebounding and their eight second-chance points, coupled with 4-of-5 free throws helped the Tigers narrow the lead to six (30-24) at the half.
The Eagle lead remained at six points until a layup by Imani Harris and two jumpers from Kayla Horton tied things up at 34-34. The Eagles managed to score five unanswered, but once again, the Tigers were able to trim the lead and trailed by just two points (41-39) heading into the final frame.
A quick four-point burst reclaimed the six-point cushion for the Eagles, but the Tigers continued to battle, cutting the lead to four (49-45) with 4:21 remaining. Mary Lengeman ended a two-minute scoring drought for both teams with a pair of free throws to make in 51-45 in favor of the Eagles. Two more free throws by Jean-Louis with 40 seconds gave the Eagles their largest lead of the quarter (58-50). The Tigers were able to cut the lead to four (59-55) with eight seconds left, but Turpening connected on her only two free throws of the day to seal the win for the Blue and Gold.
Following a 15-day break for the holidays, the Eagles will return to action with a trip to South Florida to take on conference foe Nova Southeastern. That contest take place at 2 p.m. on Dec. 30.
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle women's basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.
