FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Jan. 28, 2009) - Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team topped Florida Southern 67-62 in Sunshine State Conference action on Wednesday evening at the University Center. With the win, NSU picks up its fourth consecutive home victory and improves to 8-10 overall and 4-4 in the SSC. Florida Southern falls to 13-5 on the season and 4-4 in the SSC.

NSU jumped out to an 11-2 lead within the first five minutes of the game. Abbie Tepe's (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) three-pointer at 14:59 allowed the Sharks to take their first nine-point advantage of the half. However, Chelsea Johnson rattled off eight-straight points for Florida Southern, including back-to-back treys, to make it 11-10 in favor of NSU at the 13:14 mark.

Behind solid offensive and defensive efforts, the Sharks regained a nine-point lead. A Tepe layup at 11:59 sparked a 10-point run that resulted in NSU holding a 21-12 advantage with 6:59 left in the half.

Florida Southern began to fight back and, in the final 1:45, cut NSU's lead down to one as the Sharks carried a slight 28-27 edge into halftime.

In the first part of the second half, the Moccasins eventually took a pair of four-point leads, including using a pair of Emer Foley foul shots at 10:01 to go up 44-40. NSU clawed back, using an 11-0 run to go up 51-44. Erin Zampell (Fr., Naples, Fla.) made both of her free throws with 9:00 to go en route to starting the Sharks' run. Florida Southern answered with a 7-1 run as Johnson's layup made it 52-51 in favor of the Sharks with 3:09 left to go.

NSU limited the Moccasins to just five points while scoring 11 over the next two-and-a-half minutes to go up 63-56 with 29 second left in the game. Although Florida Southern made it a four-point game on two occasions, a Stevie Kamp (Fr., Mesa, Ariz) foul shot with three seconds remaining sealed the win.

NSU shot 46.4 percent (25-for-58) from the floor, while Florida Southern was 37.9 percent (25-for-66). The Moccasins outrebounded NSU 44-35, while the Sharks committed more steals (11-8) and came up with more blocks (7-4).

Stephanie Sarosi recorded a team-high 21 points and game-high five blocks. Tepe, who was 5-for-5 from the charity stripe, chipped in with 14 points. Zampell, who added a 4-for-4 performance from the foul line, totaled 12 points. LaShawnna Edwards (Jr., Miami, Fla.) recorded a team-best seven rebounds.

Johnson scored a game-high 21 points, while Alli Fogle grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

NSU returns to action on Saturday when the Sharks travel to Eckerd. Game time is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.