Nationally ranked Embry-Riddle off to a hot start after another international tour
DAYTONA BEACH — Lisa Wilson thinks there might be a correlation.
In August 2017, her Embry-Riddle Eagles took a 10-day trip to Costa Rica. They ziplined in a rainforest. They went whitewater rafting. And they played four exhibition basketball games.
After returning to Florida, they put up the best record in program history at 24-8 that season.
This year, Embry-Riddle embarked on another international tour, its first since Costa Rica. The Eagles flew to Spain. They sailed on a catamaran, watched bull fights and visited La Sagrada Familia. And there was more basketball.
“We got our butts kicked,” Wilson said. “But it was really good for us. Everybody we played was professional players over there or they are current DI players that were home for the summer.”
Here’s where the correlation kicks in.
The Eagles are tearing it up again. Through nine games, they are 8-1 and ranked 18th in the national CSC media poll. They beat Edward Waters 61-55 Friday in their last game before winter break.
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The first thing junior guard Madyson Jean-Louis pointed out about this team and its current run was chemistry.
“Going to Spain, I think that really helped our team chemistry and gave us time to kind of bond,” she said. “We had basketball, but that gave us time off the court to get to know each other.”
It has shown on the court.
Embry-Riddle is averaging 81.4 points per game. It has claimed six of its eight victories by double digits and won by an average margin of 20.
Jean-Louis leads the squad with 15.6 points per game. Senior Keturah Balabyekkubo checks in second with 11.9.
The Eagles are unselfish too. Led by sophomore point guard Kailey Turpening, the Eagles are dishing out 17.2 assists per game, which accounts for more than 56% of their field goals and is nearly seven more than their opponents.
That can’t all be chalked up to Spain.
Last season, Embry-Riddle was 8-12 before finding its rhythm in February, capturing five of its last seven contests to finish 13-14. It brought momentum into this winter.
Ten players are back. All five starters are returners.
“It’s a good combination of returning experience and really talented underclassmen,” Wilson said. “That’s a good combination to have.”
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Wilson called her team “deep” and said it has resulted in intense practices where the bench has defeated the starters.
“I love it,” she said. “That’s the way it should be because it means we’re good from top to bottom and everybody is bringing it every day.”
Wilson added: “You obviously want to be clicking and peaking at the right time. We’re playing really well right now, but I don’t want this to be the best we’ve played.”
The players are on another trip now.
Home.
Following their win over Edward Waters, Wilson gave them 11 days off during the school’s winter break, which is the longest she’s granted since the program’s inception in 2014.
“But because they’ve been here since Aug. 4, they have to have that,” Wilson said. “With nine underclassmen, you have to give them time at home.”
They return to practice Dec. 27, work out for three days and then the fun starts.
Embry-Riddle plays Nova Southeastern on Dec. 30. From there, it will continue the Sunshine State Conference gauntlet with league games every Wednesday and Saturday until March.
“I plan to do nothing,” Jean-Louis said of her excursion home to Dallas, Texas. “Nothing in the sense that I’m hanging out with friends, hanging out with family. Still being conditioned and staying in shape so we can come back. We’ll hit the road to Fort Lauderdale on the 30th.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Women's basketball: Embry-Riddle relying on chemistry during hot start
