DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 12 Embry-Riddle women's basketball team opened its 2025-26 season with an impressive performance on Friday morning. The Eagles posted multiple top-10 marks in the program record book, including total blocks (7), field goal percentage (.600) and field goals made (36). ERAU's depth was on full display, as every healthy player logged at least eight minutes and recorded a made field goal.
RECORDS
Embry-Riddle: 1-0 (0-0 SSC)
Montevallo: 0-1 (0-0 GSC)
GAME NOTES
- The Eagles entered the season ranked No. 12 in the WBCA Coaches' Preseason Poll.
- Embry-Riddle is now 7-0 all-time in the GSC/SSC Crossover, with four wins over Montevallo and three against Auburn-Montgomery.
- ERAU improved to 10-1 all-time in season openers.
KEY PERFORMERS
Embry-Riddle
Montevallo
- Emily Mouser: 6 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
- The Blue and Gold jumped out to a 12-0 start, forcing four turnovers in the opening four minutes.
- Embry-Riddle forced seven turnovers in the period and held the Falcons to 16.7 (2-for-12) percent shooting, while the Eagles shot better than 75 percent (10-for-13).
- ERAU closed the quarter with a 24-4 lead.
Second Quarter
- Embry-Riddle continued its strong start with a 14-0 run early in the quarter.
- The Eagles established an early dominance in the paint, with all 24 of their second-quarter points coming at the rim. ERAU finished the game with 58 points inside and nine offensive rebounds.
- Branch capped her first collegiate half a perfect 6-for-6 with 13 points, helping the Eagles take a 48-15 advantage into halftime.
Third Quarter
- After connecting on just one three-pointer in the first half, the Eagles opened the third with back-to-back makes from long range and held Montevallo to nine points in the period.
- ERAU turned 19 Falcon turnovers into 28 points, with seven different Eagles recording a point in the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
- To start the fourth quarter, Coach Wilson was able to give valuable minutes to her freshman class, with all five players on the court being a freshman (Sydney Roufosse, Maya Collins, Bianca Negreiros, Branch, and Ilektra Polychronopoulou).
- The freshmen added to ERAU's 36 bench points and pushed the Eagles to their largest lead of the day, going up by 49 with six minutes remaining.
INSIDE THE STATS
- Embry-Riddle shot 50 percent or better in every quarter.
- The 36 made field goals tied for sixth in program history, and the .600 field goal percentage ranks third all-time.
- ERAU's seven blocks also tied for the third-best mark in program history, while Staton's five blocks matched the program's single-game record.
UP NEXT
The Eagles close out the 2025 GSC/SSC Crossover Classic on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Auburn-Montgomery. AUM fell to Nova Southeastern 91-63 on Friday afternoon.
