FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Mar. 7, 2009) - Fourth-seeded Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team was defeated by top-seeded Rollins 55-43 in the semifinals of the 2009 BlueCross BlueShield of Florida Women's Basketball Championships on Saturday afternoon at the Arena at the Don Taft University Center.
It was a low-scoring first half. By the 8:51 mark, NSU took its first of three six-point leads, its largest margin of the half. A layup from Tara Haddock (Jr., Citrus Springs, Fla.) made it 12-6.
Behind a three-pointer from Kourtnie Berry and a Paris Moore layup over the next 26 seconds, Rollins pulled to within one. However, NSU answered with an Eliza Allen (Sr., Hegenheim, France) trey and a Stephanie Sarosi (Jr., Mims, Fla.) jumper to go up 17-11 with 4:31 remaining.
NSU held its final six-point advantage off another Allen trey at 2:11 to make it a 20-14 game. Although Rollins came to within two with 28 seconds left in the half, Priscilla Perez (So., Miami, Fla.) was fouled from behind the three-point line. Perez calmly sank all three foul shots, giving the Sharks a 23-18 advantage heading into halftime.
NSU lead throughout the first part of the second half, but a costly six-minute scoring drought allowed the Tars to take the lead. Sarosi hit a foul shot with 13:35 to go that made it 31-28 in favor of NSU. However, Rollins answered with a 13-0 run that was capped by a Jasmine Bradley three-pointer at 7:35 that gave the Tars the 41-31 lead.
The Sharks fought back and pulled to within five on two occasions, including at the 1:12 mark off a Haddock three-pointer that made it a 48-45 game. However, the Tars went 7-for-9 from the foul line in the final 55 seconds en route to earning a berth to Sunday's championship game where they will meet second-seeded Tampa.
NSU shot 25.9 percent (15-for-58) from the field, while Rollins was 30.9 percent (21-for-68). Rollins also held a 55-39 advantage in rebounds.
Sarosi had game-highs in points and rebounds with a 15-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Bradley led the Tars with 12 points, while Paris Moore chipped in with 10. Both Brittaniy Daiger and Ines Teuma had seven rebounds.
NSU finished the 2008-09 campaign with a 14-15 overall mark and was 9-7 in Sunshine State Conference player. The Sharks only graduate one player Allen from the 2008-09 team.
NSU Head Coach Marilyn Rule: "I'm very proud of the way our team came together and gelled at the right time over the last four or five games this season. Today, we simply didn't get the job done on the boards and that was the biggest factor in the game. When you get outrebounded by your opponent, it's just extremely hard to win."
"We have a lot of young women on this team that gained a ton of playing experience this year. We'll miss the experience and contributions of our lone senior, Eliza Allen, but we look forward to making another run at the SSC Championship with the four seniors next year."
Rollins Head Coach Glen Wilkes: "The team showed a lot of character today and our defense really stepped up. Shots started to fall in the second half, but it was our defense that really kept us in it. We were down most of the game, but kept our cool and I think that shows why this team won 25 games this season.
