FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2009) - The Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team escaped with their second consecutive Sunshine State Conference win, this time over the Saint Leo University Lions (10-15, 2-13 SSC), 71-68 on Saturday afternoon at the Arena at the Don Taft University Center. The Sharks are now 11-14 overall, 7-7 SSC.

Before the game, Stephanie Sarosi (Jr., Mims, Fla.) was honored for scoring her 1,000th point this past Wednesday in an SSC match-up with Barry on the road. Before tip-off, she had 1,013 career points in less than two seasons with the Sharks. Sarosi held true to the fact that she was among NSU's dominating career scoring leaders finishing the game with a game-high 26 points. She also added 12 rebounds for the double-double. Sarosi surpassed last season's scoring mark of 517 points and with 522 this season, she is just 10 points away for breaking the Sharks' single-season scoring record.

The Sharks opened the game with a strong offensive effort taking a 7-0 lead just 1:33 into the first half. Nova Southeastern extended their lead to 20-10 on Eliza Allen's (Sr., Hegenhiem, France) at the 12:05 mark, but Saint Leo went on a 20-3 scoring run to take a 30-24 lead thanks to a Marquita Fenn layup with 4:15 to play before the half. The Lions carried the momentum into the break with a 33-28 lead over the Sharks.

Coming out of the break, Saint Leo extended their lead to 37-30 in the first 1:06 of the second period. However, the Sharks began cutting into the Lions lead and took a 44-41 advantaged a 13:37 on Tara Haddock's (Jr., Citrus Springs, Fla.) three-pointer.

The Lions regained the lead on Whitley Washington's layup at the 10:15 mark, 47-46, but Haddock followed with another trey that gave NSU a 49-47 lead they would not relinquish the rest of the game. From there, the Sharks went on a 20-5 scoring run that was capped off by Haddock's third three-pointer of the second half to give NSU a 66-52 edge. Although Saint Leo closed the game, the last ditch effort fell short with the Sharks winning 71-68.

Sarosi led all scorers with her 26 points, while Allen finished with 15 for the Sharks. Washington led Saint Leo with 20 points, while Fenn and Nichole Tyler finished with 18 and 12 points respectively. NSU hit a blistering eight of 13 three-pointers for the game for a 61.5 percent three-point field goal percentage.

The Sharks will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 25 hosting Florida Tech in Sunshine State Conference action. It will be the final home game of the regular season for NSU when they also recognize their one senior Eliza Allen.