Embry-Riddle found themselves down late in regulation but stuck together and kept battling to earn an overtime 69-61 win over Westcliff in the first round of the Cal Pac Conference Tournament hosted at UC Merced on Saturday evening. 

ERAU scored early in the first quarter but that was all they would get as the Eagles were held to four first quarter points and trialed 18-4 after the games first 10 minutes. 

The Eagles found a little rhythm in the second quarter as Aryana Gonzales (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) started the second ten minutes with two made free throws to cut into the deficit.  A layup by Micaela Hidalgo (Greeley, Colo.) made it a ten point game with 9:16 to go until halftime.  Zakiirah King (Chandler, Ariz.) made four straight free throws to make the score 22-15.  With 2:32 to go, Mehgan Strickler made a three point shot to get Embry-Riddle back within five points which was the closest the Eagles had been in a while.  Westcliff extended their lead back to nine points, but a three from Nicole Evenson (Bemidji, Minn.) and a layup from Liz Behan (St. Peters, Mo.) right before half made the score 27-23 at the break.

Westcliff scored first to start the second half but back to back layups by Strickler brought Embry-Riddle within one point.  Everytime the Eagles got within a point, the Warriors answered with a basket of their own.  Westcliff re-extended their lead late in the third as they led by as many as ten points again.  Behan made another layup with seven seconds left, but a half-court shot at the buzzer gave the Warriors a nine point lead heading into the final ten minutes of the game. 

ERAU trailed by as many as 11 points with 7:14 remaining in the game, but the defense stepped up as they did not allow Westcliff to score a field goal and only gave up two free throws with 25 seconds left.  Meanwhile, the Embry-Riddle offense stepped up scoring nine straight points.  Kate McBride (Atlanta, Ga.) started the run for the Eagles with a made jump shot followed by a layup from King.  Two free throws from McBride made the score 53-48 with just 4:26 left in the game.  King then made back to back layups to get ERAU within one point.  The Warriors sunk their two free-throws and were up by three points with 25 seconds left.  Strickler made a layup with 20 seconds left and then Embry-Riddle forced a five second violation on Westcliff to get the ball back.  Strickler was fouled on her attempt to score and sunk a free throw to tie the score at 55-55 and the game headed into overtime. 

Embry-Riddle dominated the overtime period after Westcliff scored the first three points on a layup and free throw.  Gonzales scored seven points in the overtime period and Susie Reynoso (Escondido, Calif.) iced the game from the free throw line going 4-4 as the Eagles went on to win and advance to the Cal Pac Semifinals. 

Gonzales and Strickler each scored 14 points and King added 13.  Strickler had another double-double as she added 18 rebounds to go with her 14 points.

Embry-Riddle will play again tomorrow night at 9:30pm MST in Merced against the Redhawks of Benedictine Mesa for a chance in the Cal Pac Championship.