DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's basketball team fended off a late rally by Florida Southern to top the Moccasins 61-59 in Sunshine State Conference play at the ICI Center on Wednesday. The win was the Eagles' 10th Sunshine State Conference win of the season for the Eagles who are now 10-3 in the league and 15-4 overall.
The early advantage went to the Moccasins (11-10, 4-10 SSC) who led 8-4 at the 4:16 mark of the first quarter, but the Eagles responded with a 12-4 run to end the frame up 16-12.
Neither team shot the ball well in the second period, as each side managed just five made field goals in the quarter. Florida Southern had the slight edge in an otherwise even frame, connecting on two of their six three-point attempts, while the Eagles went 0-for-7. The Moccasins edged the Eagles 13-11 in the second, but it was Embry-Riddle who went it halftime break with the lead, 27-25.
Both teams improved their shooting in the third with FSC shooting 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the field and the Eagles improving their shooting clip from 26.3 percent in the second quarter to 53.8 percent (7-of-13) in the third. The Eagles used an 8-2 spurt to extend their lead to seven (37-30) in the first three minutes of the period. The Moccasins were able to close the gap to one point (40-39), but back-to-back treys by
Sarah Napoli and
Kyra Haan gave the Blue & Gold a 46-41 advantage heading into the fourth.
The start of the fourth saw threes by
Kailey Turpening and
Eva Zaragoza help the Eagles to a 54-48 advantage with 6:29 left to play, but a 5-0 Moccasin run reduced the deficit to one (54-53) and Domenica Zamora's second three in a row gave FSC its first lead of the second half, 56-54. Turpening immediately answered with a three of her own and layups by
Laurie Satchell and
Mary Lengemann gave the Eagles another five-point cushion (61-56).
With 43 seconds remaining, the Moccasins employed the three-pointer again to make it a two-point (61-59) game. The Eagles missed their next field goal attempt but were able to run time off the clock by corralling the offensive rebound. FSC forced a turnover with 10 seconds left but their final shot of the game also went awry allowing the Eagles to escape with the win.
Turpening was the high scorer for the Eagles with 10 points to go with five assists, three boards and two steals. Napoli added nine points, and
Madyson Jean-Louis, Jenna Teteryz and
Kyra Haan tallied eight points apiece. Satchell finished with seven points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Eagles will be back in the ICI Center again on Saturday to host league leader Nova Southeastern. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.
The 2023-24 Embry-Riddle women's basketball season is presented by Daytona Mitsubishi.
