FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – With their 83-64 Senior Day win over Eckerd on Saturday, the No. 17 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team earned the outright Sunshine State Conference regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SSC Championships.
The Sharks (22-4, 13-2 SSC) turned a 13-point lead at the half into a 29-point margin as they started off the third quarter with a 17-1 run. They never really looked back, as 18 was the closest the Tritons (12-11, 6-8 SSC) got, and that was with under a minute left.
"It was a very good team effort on both ends of the floor today," said head coach
LeAnn Freeland. "Our players played with focus and determination as they were playing for the SSC regular season title. It was one of our best games of the season, and we plan to build off this as we edge closer to postseason play. Our seniors were fantastic in the win."
To that end, the senior quartet combined for 47 points, with a total of seven Sharks scoring seven points or more (for all but one of the team's winning total).
Molly Blomer (West Chester, Ohio) was the day's leader with 16, making 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and adding six rebounds. Right behind her were two juniors,
Taylor Buie (Puyallup, Wash.) and
Kayla Wright (Lauderhill, Fla.), scoring 14 each.
Another senior in double digits, flirting with a triple-double, was
Ida Krogh (Aarhus, Denmark). She totaled 13 points to go along with a team-best seven assists and a twin mark of seven rebounds. The other two seniors each scored nine:
Monaye Merritt (Philadelphia, Pa.) and
Alexis Murphy (Carlisle, Ohio). Merritt had eight rebounds and six assists as well; Murphy made all three of her shot attempts, all from beyond the arc.
Wrapping up the scoring for NSU was
Christen Prasse (So., Naperville, Ill.) with seven, and
Emily Stoicovy (Fr., Erie, Penn.), who scored her first career point late with a free throw.
The Sharks shot over 50 percent in each half and outrebounded the Tritons 36-23. They added 10 steals and four blocked shots, and forced 16 Eckerd turnovers. Leading the way for the Tritons was Margaret Sundberg with 22 points.
The Sharks will be idle this upcoming Wednesday before wrapping up the regular season on the road in Lakeland a week from today. They will take on Florida Southern at 5:30 p.m., and will return home to host the SSC's No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchup on March 2 at 7 p.m.
