DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The last minute of play provided a great deal of excitement for fans in the women's basketball game between Embry-Riddle and Nova Southeastern on Saturday at the ICI Center. In the end it was the Sharks, ranked No. 15 in the latest D2 College Sports Communicators poll, who were able to escape with the win edging the Eagles 63-61.
Kailey Turpening hit a big three to tie the game with 4.5 seconds left in regulation, but a controversial foul call against the Eagles with two seconds remaining sent the Sharks to the free throw line where they knocked down both attempts to improve to 19-3 overall and retain their spot at the top of the SSC standings at 14-1. The Eagles are 16-5 overall and 10-4 in league play.
Kailyn Terrell opened the game with a three-pointer for NSU, but the Eagles countered immediately with a three of their own from
Madyson Jean-Louis. Jean-Louis accounted for the Eagles next three points and
Jenna Teterycz added a three of her own to give the Eagles a 9-3 lead. ERAU shot 53.8 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes and Jean-Louis' eight points helped the home team to a 19-11 advantage heading into the second.
Mary Lengemann's third bucket of the night capped a 7-2 run that put the Eagles ahead by 14 points (25-11) at the start of the second quarter. ERAU continued to shoot the ball well in the second frame, going 7-of-11 (64.6 percent) from the field. The Sharks managed just five field goals in the second, but two threes and three free throws helped them match the Eagles' second-quarter point total and at the half, the margin was still eight (34-26).
The start of the third saw the Sharks steadily chip away at the Eagle lead and at the 5:56 mark, Morgan Kane scored two of her 13 points to tie the score at 37-37. Jean-Louis hit two free throws that keyed a 6-0 Eagle run and Lengemann drained a three in the closing seconds to increase the Eagle advantage to seven (48-41).
The Sharks came out with the hot hand to start the fourth, scoring eight of the first 10 points to cut the Eagle lead to one (50-49). Lengemann hit her second trey, then followed that with two makes from the free throw line to widen the gap to six, but once again NSU, who shot 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from the field in the last 10 minutes, mounted a rally and a Nicole Scales three with 23 seconds left gave the Sharks their first lead (61-58) since the opening seconds of the game.
Free throws proved crucial in the final stanza as the Sharks made seven of their eight attempts while the Eagles managed only five makes on their 12 trips to the charity stripe. Terrell connected on two of the Shark free throw attempts to give her team a 61-58 cushion with 10 seconds left. With no timeouts remaining, the Eagles were tasked with taking the ball the length of the court before attempting a shot.
Chandler Brooks inbounded the ball to Turpening who raced down the floor and drilled a shot from about 25 feet out to tie the score at 61-61 with 4.5 seconds left.
The Sharks used one of their remaining timeouts to advance the ball and another to set up a play. The Eagles deflected the ball away from the intended recipient of the inbounds pass, but were whistled for a foul on the play and with two seconds left, Kane made both free throws to give the Sharks the win.
Lengemann matched her career high with 17 points off the bench. Jean-Louis finished with 16 points, three boards and two steals, while
Jenna Teterycz finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
The Eagles' next game will take the team down I-4 for a 5:30 p.m. tip against Rollins on Wednesday.
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle women's basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.
