SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team put its never-say-die attitude on display against Saint Leo on Saturday reducing a 24-point deficit to four in the fourth quarter. But while the momentum was on the Eagles' (17-6, 11-5 SSC) side late in Saturday's game, they ran out of time to complete the comeback, falling to the Lions (11-13, 5-11 SSC) on the road 68-61 in Sunshine State Conference play.
While the Lions shot 63 percent from the field, the Eagles struggled offensively in the first two periods, managing just seven makes on 21 attempts in the first half. The game was tied at 10-10 at the 5:28 mark of the first quarter, but an 11-minute scoring drought by the Eagles helped the Lions take a 36-22 lead into the halftime break.
Embry-Riddle's shooting woes continued well into the third quarter with a
Madyson Jean-Louis three-point play and a
Sarah Napoli three being the Eagles' only points in the first seven minutes. The Saint Leo lead swelled to 24, but a quick 5-2 spurt by ERAU cut the lead to 18 and heading into the fourth the Lions led 56-36.
The Eagles started their comeback with 8:55 left in the fourth.
Jenna Teterycz drew a foul on the way to the basket and her completion of the three-point play triggered an 11-0 run that cut the Lions' lead to nine (58-49) with 5:07 left to play. The Saint Leo lead was still eight until
Kailey Turpening hit a layup and a free throw to make it a five-point game (63-58) with 50 seconds left. Following two Saint Leo free throws,
Kyra Haan caught the ball on the wing and hit her second three of the game to pull the Eagles within four (65-61). Trailing by five with 18 seconds left, the Eagles were unable to get another shot off before time expired, giving Saint Leo the win.
Jean-Louis totaled 13 points and six rebounds, and Turpening and Haan added 12 points each.
The Eagles return to the ICI Center at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday to host Eckerd in another SSC contest.
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle women's basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.
