ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - Eastern Women's Basketball slow start in the third quarter tripped them up as they went on to fall 79-66 to visiting FDU-Florham on Wednesday night.
Taylor Price scored a season-high 25 points, but it wasn't enough to help the Eagles secure the win.
"We just have to keep battling especially against a team like that," said Head Coach
Eric Houston. "When you play a team that has won three Conference Championships and an NCAA Championship you know it's not going to be easy. You have to fight and felt like there were times when we did and times when we didn't."
In the opening quarter, both teams came out ready to go as they battled hard trying to gain an edge. After FDU-Florham (10-4, 2-1 MAC Freedom) opened with a 3-pointer Eastern (8-6, 2-1 MAC Freedom) went on a 7-0 run to jump out to a 7-3 lead. The Devils came right back to tie the game at 9-9 before each team began trading baskets in the final minutes of the first quarter with FDU-Florham leading 16-15 after one.
The second quarter was much of the same as both teams continued to trade baskets and small two or three point scoring runs. The Devils did manage to take at what the time was the biggest lead of the game by either team, six points, at 25-19 with just under seven minutes left to play in the half.
Taylor Price drove hard to the basket for a layup but also drew contact to force an and-one opportunity. Price knocked down her free throw attempt to cut the deficit to just three, 25-22.
Taylor Azer managed to hit back-to-back layups in the final two minutes of play in the first half to pull Eastern within one, 33-32.
The start of the second half proved to be the real difference in this game, however. FDU-Florham came out of the locker room and opened the third quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 45-35 lead. During the scoring run, the Eagles missed four shots, missed three free throws, and turned the ball over three times. After Price knocked down a pair of free throws to trim the Devils lead to eight Fernanda Reyes knocked down a big 3-pointer to stretch FDU-Florham's lead to eleven, 48-37. Overall in the quarter, the Eagles were outscored 19-9 giving the Devils a 52-41 advantage heading into the final quarter.
"It is our Achilles heal," said Houston when referring to the third quarter. "I don't know what that third quarter is, but it's just one of those things that as a head coach I have to figure out."
Eastern did manage to battle back in the final quarter but couldn't make enough defensive stops to pull itself back into the game. Outside of a small scoring run capped by a
Regie Robinson layup to cut the deficit to just twelve at 66-54. The Eagles were unable to get any closer as FDU-Florham ran away with the game down the stretch.
Overall Price netted 25 points going 8-of-15 from the field shooting (.533) from the field. Robinson scored 14 points while Amanda Riff scored ten points to round out the double-digit scoring for Eastern.
"Words can't describe what she [Price] does," continued Houston. "It's frustrating for her because she thinks she has to do a lot, but she really doesn't have to. She just works extremely hard and at this moment, I just feel bad for her."
Rachel Groom led all FDU-Florham scorers posting a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Shalette Brown not only posted a double-double but also achieved a tremendous milestone scoring 1,000 points for her career. Brown finished the game with 18 points and 20 rebounds. Danielle Leguillou scored 14 points while Alyssa McDonough netted 12 points.
"We have to stick together, and that's the most important thing," concluded Houston. "We have to believe in each other and believe in ourselves and know that we can do it. If we can do it, we will be fine. We are going into King's knowing we can win, and I believe we can win."
Eastern travels to King's College on January 16th for a 1 pm tipoff.
