DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team outscored the Saint Leo 19-4 in the first quarter on the way to a 74-56 win over the Lions at the ICI Center on Wednesday. The victory improved the Eagles overall record to 12-3 and their Sunshine State Conference ledger to 6-2.
The Eagles had three players in double figures led by 16 from
Madyson Jean-Louis who also had three rebounds and two steals.
Kailey Turpening matched her career-high with 13 points to go with six boards and six assists, while
Kyra Haan tallied 12 points, three assists and two steals for an ERAU team that was 43.4 percent (23-53) from the field and 20-of-25 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles got off to their best start of the season, outscoring the Lions 15-0 in the first eight minutes of play. The Eagles, led by seven points from Jean-Louis, were 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from the field, 75 percent (3-of-4) from long range and 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the first quarter. The Eagle defense held the Lions to just one made field goal and led by 15 at the end of the period.
The Saint Leo offense came to life in the second frame, scoring six of the first eight points in the quarter. The visitors managed to cut the Eagle led to single digits (25-16) with 2:08 left in the half, but with 36 seconds left, Anye' Staten scored two of her four second-quarter points to give the Eagles a 27-16 advantage heading into the halftime break.
Less than a minute into the third, Turpening drilled her first three of the evening, which triggered an 11-2 run that widened the gap to 18 points (40-22). The Lions mounted a rally and with the help of 12 points from Chynna Mattair, they outscored the Eagles 10-2 over a two-minute stretch to cut the lead to eight (46-38) and trailed by 10 (48-38) heading into the fourth.
Turpening and Jean-Louis combined for nine points in the first two minutes of the fourth to push the Eagle lead to 17 (59-42). Once again, the Lions were able to cut into the lead and a three-point play by Alayna Harris made it a 10-point game (60-50) with 4:03 left to play. But the final 3:50 belonged to the Eagles as they bested the Lions 14-6 during that stretch to secure the 18-point victory.
Saint Leo's offense came from their reserve players as Mattair and Harris combined for 29 points of the bench. The Lions are now 9-7 overall and 3-5 in the SSC.
The Eagles are back in the ICI Center at 4 p.m. on Saturday to host Rollins in another SSC battle.
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle women's basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.
