RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Trailing by 13 points going into the fourth quarter, the No. 24 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Ariz.) women's basketball hit on 12-of-18 shots in the fourth quarter that lifted the Eagles to a 71-64 win over La Sierra University in the final regular season game of the California Pacific Conference (Cal Pac) season. Freshman Bethany Wolph (Chandler, Ariz.) scored a career-high 18 points, all on three-point shots, to lead the Eagles. With the win the Eagles will be the No. 2 seed in next week's Cal Pac Tournament.
Embry-Riddle (21-5, 11-3 Cal Pac) got off to a quick 6-0 start on a pair of threes, but La Sierra (11-17, 6-8 Cal Pac) did not let the Eagles gain any more ground, coming back to take its first lead of the game at 9-8 on a four-point play midway through the quarter. Neither team led by more than two the rest of the quarter, with La Sierra taking a 16-15 lead into the second on a pair of free throws.
It stayed close the entire second quarter as well. Back-to-back treys by Wolph gave the Eagles a 28-24 lead with 2:31 left, but ERAU could not gain any more ground and held just a 30-28 lead at the half.
With six minutes left in the third another trey by Wolph gave ERAU a 38-36 lead, but it would be the last field goal for the Eagles until the closing seconds of the quarter. La Sierra took advantage and scored 15 straight points in the final five minutes, grabbing a 53-38 lead on a pair of free throws.
A shot by sophomore Melissa Pfeifer (Hays, Kan.), who pulled down 19 rebounds, at the end of the third quarter broke the scoring slump by Embry-Riddle and gave the offense the lift it needed. The Eagles then picked up a pair of baskets by sophomore Jazlyn Maletino (Tracy, Calif.) and a trey by Wolph to cut the lead down to six in the first two minutes of the fourth.
La Sierra pushed its lead back to 10 at 57-47, but the Eagles responded again, this time with a 12-0 run, retaking the lead on a three-pointer by sophomore Halley Villegas (Anthem, Ariz.). The Golden Eagles managed to come back and tie the score twice, the final time at 64-all with 2:23 left on a three-point shot by Elsie Mejia.
Sophomore Danae Ruiz (Maricopa, Ariz.) answered with a three and ERAU never trailed again as it scored the final seven points of the game to pull away and take the victory. Embry-Riddle will now move on to the Cal Pac Tournament in Vallejo, California where the Eagles will take on No. 3 seed UC Merced on Sunday, February 25 at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
