Box Score

THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Thomas University women's basketball team dropped a thrilling game tonight at home versus Sun Conference foe Embry-Riddle 66-59.  While the game was close in the final three minutes of regulation, the Eagles finished the game with a 7-5 run to send Thomas to the loss at home in front of a packed crowd.
 
Thomas led for the first four minutes of the contest before Embry-Riddle stormed off on an 8-0 run to put the Eagles ahead 14-6.  The Eagles continued to pull away from the Lady Night Hawks heading into the intermission with the 39-27 lead.  In the first half, the Lady Night Hawks were held to 27.5 percent from the field.  Early foul trouble by TU sent the Eagles to the charity to convert 13 of their 14 attempts in the first frame.
 
The Lady Night Hawks continued to slump in the opening minutes of the second half enabling Embry-Riddle to increase their lead to 46-29 with 17:09 remaining in regulation. TU did not go down without a fight and powered back to cut the Eagles' lead to seven (46-39) with 10:56 to play.
 
Within their next eight possessions, the Lady Night Hawks pushed a 9-0 run tying the game on a three from the left corner by Shamari Josey with 6:13 left.
 
Embry-Riddle bounced back, however, to regain the lead and pushed it to 59-53 over the Lady Night Hawks. The Blue and Gold didn't allow TU to cut the lead down to less than four over the final minutes, eventually coming away with the 66-59 victory.
 
Senior guard Courtney Saunds led the Night Hawks with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Ivory Smith chipped in 12 points and seven boards. Jessica Anderson added eight points and a team high five assists in the losing effort.
 
Head coach Coretta Brown reflected on tonight's defeat, "We did a good job of battling back in the second half.  We cannot continue to dig ourselves into holes and hope to get out.  We have a quick turnaround.  We'll go back, watch the film, and prepare for Thursday."
 
Thomas dropped to 9-6, 3-3 in TSC play, while Embry-Riddle improved to 11-5, 3-3 on the year.

The Lady Night Hawks return to action on Thursday, Jan. 22 when they host Sun Conference rival Northwood University (Fla.) at the TU Gymnasium. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.

For up-to-date information on this game and other TU Athletics, visit http://www.TUNightHawks.com. Stay up-to-date with news, scores, photos, game summaries, play-by-play, and feature stories of your TU women's basketball team by following them via Twitter at @NightHawksWBKB.