FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (December 9, 2007) - The 11th-ranked Valdosta State Lady Blazers (8-1) hit nine of their first 11 shots of the game which proved to be a deficit too large to overcome to the Nova Southeastern Sharks (3-3) as VSU defeated the Sharks by a score of 63-55 on Sunday afternoon at NSU's University Center Arena.
After starting the first half on fire, the Lady Blazers opened up an 11-point lead with 6:34 remaining in the frame after a made three-ball by Carley Peterson. Eight answered points by the Sharks, capped by a made free throw by Abbie Tepe (Fr., Cincinnati, Ohio) trimmed VSU's lead to 28-25 with 3:36 remaining but the Lady Blazers would finish the half with five unanswered points of their own, including back-to-back layups by Julie Kongeskov and Nina Risto to make it 33-25 going into the half.
In the first half, the teams' field goal percentages were nearly identical with VSU shooting 43.8 percent and NSU shooting 43.5 percent from the field. The difference, however, was the rebounding margin in which the Lady Blazers held the edge, 22-13.
Stephanie Sarosi (So., Mims, Fla.) led the Sharks with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half while VSU's Risto led all scorers with 11 points.
The Sharks' demise came early in the second half as VSU opened with a 19-5 run, capped by a pair of made free throws by Vanna Cure with 11:03 left. Behind heavy ball pressure, the Sharks would go on a 19-6 run to close the gap to 58-49 with 3:32 remaining but a jumper by Risto on the Blazers' next possession proved to be the final dagger as the Sharks would only get as close as six points with just over a minute remaining.
For the game, Risto and Peterson led VSU with 18 and 14 points, respectively while Sarosi led the Sharks with 16 points. VSU's Khaleh Thomas, Kongeskov, and NSU's Amber Bishko (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) led all players with seven rebounds each. The most game-defining statistic was VSU's 42-24 rebound advantage.
NSU will return to action on Saturday, December 15 as they travel to Raleigh, N.C. for the first of two games on the trip. In game one, they will face the Shaw University Lady Bears at 7pm.
