FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Mar. 4, 2009) - Fourth-seeded Nova Southeastern University women's basketball topped fifth-seeded Florida Southern 82-71 in the opening round of the 2009 BlueCross BlueShield of Florida Sunshine State Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the Arena at the Don Taft University Center on Wednesday night, securing a trip to Saturday's semifinals. NSU will now face top-seed Rollins in the 2:30 semifinal game that will take place at the Arena at the Don Taft University Center.

With the win, NSU improves to 14-14 on the season. Meanwhile, Florida Southern concludes its season with an 18-10 record.

NSU lead throughout much of the first half. Behind an 11-4 run, the Sharks took a seven-point, 22-15 advantage at 9:44. Stevie Kamp (Fr., Mesa, Ariz.) capped off that run with a layup. NSU eventually held an eight-point margin as Stephanie Sarosi (Jr., Mims, Fla.) made a foul shot at 6:31 to make it a 28-20 game.

However, Florida Southern cut the Sharks' lead down to three on two occasions, including using a Chelsea Johnson jumper at 2:37 that made it 34-31 in favor of NSU.

The Sharks closed out the half with Abbie Tepe (So. Cincinnati, Ohio) racing down the court to make a layup with just three seconds left in the half in order to give NSU the 36-31 advantage.

In the second half, the Sharks had to fend off a persistent Florida Southern offense. The Moccasins did not allow NSU to lead by more than six points through the first part of the half. Florida Southern ultimately took a 49-48 lead off a Megan Dzikas trey at 10:32.

After control of the game flip-flopping between the two teams over the next three minutes, a Kamp layup sparked a timely 12-3 run that resulted in the Sharks taking a 68-58 lead with 5:08 left in the game.

Florida Southern trimmed the Sharks' lead down to seven, but NSU continued to pull away. A layup from LaShawnna Edwards (Jr., Miami, Fla.) with 1:04 to go gave the Sharks a 12-point, 79-67 advantage. Although the Moccasins pulled to within eight with 33 seconds left, the Sharks closed out the game with three foul shots from Tepe.

NSU shot 46.9 percent (30-for-64) of its shots, while Florida Southern went 40.3 percent (27-for-67) from the floor. NSU also outrebounded the Moccasins, 42-38.

A trio of Sharks reached double-digits in scoring, including two with at least 20 points. Sarosi posted a game-high 29 points, marking her seventh-consecutive game with 20-or-more points. Tepe, who was 10-for-12 from the foul line, totaled 20 points. Eliza Allen (Sr., Hegenheim, France) tallied 12 points, all of which came from three-point shots. Sarosi also had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Both Dzikas and Johnson had 19 points for the Moccasins, while Michaela Hawley chipped in with 14. Hawley also had a team-high seven rebounds.