DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team opened its 2024-25 Sunshine State Conference slate with an 85-70 win over Eckerd, Wednesday at the ICI Center. The Eagles remain undefeated on the young season at 5-0, while the Tritons fall to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
 
The Eagles were solid defensively, besting Eckerd 37-32 on the boards. Embry-Riddle also registered 14 steals, compared to just two by the Tritons, and scored 25 of their 85 points off Triton turnovers.
 
The Tritons controlled the tip and scored the first bucket of the game, but the Eagles responded by going on a 17-4 run. The Eagle defense forced seven Eckerd turnovers and scored eight points off those miscues to take a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
After going scoreless in the first quarter, Mary Lengemann erupted for 13 points in the second, connecting on four of five field goals, one of two threes and all four of her free throw attempts. After a Madyson Jean-Louis free throw gave the Blue and Gold a 31-21 lead at the 5:53 mark, the Tritons were able to close the gap to seven points (33-26). At that point Lengemann took over, scoring nine of the Eagles' last 12 points of the quarter to propel the home team to a 47-30 lead at the half.
 
The Eagles continued to shoot the ball well in the third period, connecting on 14 of 29 field goal attempts and five three-pointers. Midway through the half the Eagle lead had swelled to 24 points (56-32), and with Jean-Louis, Kyra Haan and Anye' Staton tallying six points each in the frame, the Blue and Gold led 68-46 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
The start of the fourth quarter saw the Tritons go on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to 13 (70-57) with 6:33 left to play. With the margin was still 13 (75-62) with 4:38 showing on the clock, Embry-Riddle was able to put together a 6-1 spurt that helped keep the visitors at bay on the way to the 15-point victory.
 
Kailey Turpening had a balanced outing for the Eagles with a team-high15 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Staton contributed 14 points and five boards off the bench.
 
Eckerd's Jaylen Ostenson was the game's leading scorer with 26 points.
 
The Eagles are back in the ICI Center for another SSC matchup at 4 p.m. on Saturday when they host Barry.
 
The 2024-25 Embry-Riddle women's basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.