DAYTONA, Fla. – The Saint Leo women's basketball team lost 60-57 on the road at Embry-Riddle on Saturday evening in a Sunshine State Conference (SSC) contest despite outscoring the Eagles 22-17 in the final quarter

"I really liked how we were defensively tonight", said head coach Anthony Crocitto. "That's something as a coaching staff we preached this week at practice and we took a really great step forward in the defensive aspect of the game. As long as we can stay this consistent on the defensive end of the court and can get a few more shots to fall, we'll be in good shape come the ladder half of the season", stated Crocitto.

Both freshman Vanessa McManus and junior Alanis Diaz tallied 13 points each while McManus collected three rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Diaz finished the game with six boards, two assists, and one steal. Junior Taydra Simpson scored 12 points with a pair of blocks. Graduate student Mikaela Hall tallied eight points and eight rebounds with two steals.

Saint Leo went 20-for-56 from the field (35.7%) and 5-for-17 from beyond the arc (29.4%) while converting 12 attempts from the charity stripe. Embry-Riddle tallied 23 bench points, 30 points in the paint, and 12 points in the paint.

The Lions return to action on Tuesday, December 17 as they host Holy Family (Pa.) in a non-conference bout in the Marion Bowman Center at 1 p.m.