Mesa, Ariz. – Concluding the first day of the conference tournament, the Eagles of Embry-Riddle (AZ) took down Benedictine University Mesa in a nail biter 67-58 game.
It took until the late night matchup, but the Redhawks and Eagles showed that offensive dreams can come true in the Cal Pac conference tournament, as the two teams opened scoring with a combined 35 points in the first quarter. A fastbreak emphasis for both teams worked slightly more in the favor of the Eagles, as they entered the second quarter leading 20-15.
The Eagles tried to extend their five-point lead in the second quarter, but the scrappy Redhawks would not allow them to go anywhere, keeping the lead within seven. The teams remained evenly matched in nearly every statistical category, aside from free throw percentage, as the buzzer for halftime neared ever closer.
As the half came to a close, the game became more and more chippy, with turnovers aplenty. Embry-Riddle heard the final buzzer up just three points, largely in thanks to a 10-13 first half from the charity stripe.
Embry-Riddle's leading scorer from the regular season, Zakiirah King, led her team with 11 points at the break. She also totaled six rebounds in 18 total minutes in the first half.
"The depth that we have with this team, it allows us to get after it pretty good in practice to be able to play and prepare at the fast pace that we saw today," said Eagles head coach Michael Trujillo.
Elise Young was a focal point all year for the Redhawks, averaging 18.1 points per game, and she showed that scoring prowess early with nine points in the first half. Her solid first half, partnered with 11 points from Dyamond Butler-Worley, kept the game within reach heading to the locker room.
Both teams came out firing in the second half, knowing the importance of the third quarter to the result of the game. The Redhawks got their first lead since the first quarter, but were quickly answered back by the Eagles on a 10-0 run to close out the quarter. Embry-Riddle shot 57.1% as a team in the third, as well as tallying three blocks.
Tensions and heart rates were high as the fourth quarter opened, with the Eagles extending their lead to nine with 6:07 to go. But then, the offense of the Eagles faltered, even just slightly, and the Redhawks attacked, cutting the nine-point deficit to just three with 3:15 to go.
Back and forth they went, as each team took their turn trading blows. Embry-Riddle entered the final minute of the game up five after two missed free throws by Butler-Worley of the Redhawks, then extended it to seven on a lay-in by Susie Reynoso.
A missed lay-up by Elise Young put the game out of reach for the Redhawks, and though they tried their hand at fouling the Eagles, the Redhawks struggled to convert on the offensive end. The final buzzer went, closing out the Redhawks' season and sending the Eagles to the next round.
Embry-Riddle was led by Zakiirah King, who finished the game with an impressive stat line; 17 points on 6-12 shooting, nine rebounds (four of which offensive boards), and a staggering five blocks. As a team, the Eagles shot 33% in the first half, but upped their offensive game significantly in the second half, shooting 52% in the second half.
"We had to be calm," said coach Trujillo. "In the first half, Benedictine did a great job at forcing us to take bad shots or hurried shots; they certainly weren't great shots… we cannot let them control how we play, we have to play our game. The team knew what was going on in the huddle before I even got into the huddle, so hats off to them for being able to do it".
Butler-Worley and Young combined for 36 of the Redhawks' 58, but the bench struggled to get the offense going; just six points between the five players who saw minutes off the bench. As a team, Benedictine Mesa shot 32% from the field and just 14% from deep.
Embry-Riddle is penciled in to face #2 seed Simpson University on Monday afternoon, with the winner moving on to the conference tournament finals. Tip-off is set for 3:30 PM AST.
