FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (December 10, 2006) - Behind guard Amber Bishko's (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) 20 point, five rebound, five assist, three steal and two block performance, the Sharks of Nova Southeastern University defeated the Saint Leo University Lions 69-65 in the Sunshine State Conference opener for both teams. With the victory, NSU improves to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play while Saint Leo falls to 2-7 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

After an even first ten minutes of the game, NSU went on a 11-0 run over the next six minutes to gain their largest advantage at 33-21. A lay-up by Saint Leo just before the buzzer at halftime reduced the NSU lead to seven points, at 39-32.

Saint Leo scrambled to come back and managed to tie the game at 54 apiece before the Sharks went on a 12-4 run to lead 66-58 with two mintues remaining. NSU would go 3-4 from the charity stripe from that point on to close the door on the Lions and come away with the 69-65 victory.

Bishko led all scorer's with 20 points. Mechelle Jones (Sr. Rockledge, Fla.) and forward Jennifer Havens (Sr., Ontario, Ore.) also scored in double figures, with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Guard/forward Eliza Allen (So., Hegenheim, France) led NSU with seven rebounds and seven assists.

For the game, Nova Southeastern out-shot Saint Leo 44.4% to 40.9%. The Sharks out-rebounded SLU 39-36 and scored 26 points off 24 Lion turnovers.

NSU returns to action on Sunday, December 17th at home in the University Center Arena when they host SIU-Edwardsville at 5:30 PM.