BOX SCORE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team (2-1) posted their largest margin of victory under head coach LeAnn Freeland Saturday afternoon with a 76-62 overtime thriller over the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (2-2) at the NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center.

In a miraculous overtime offensive surge, the Sharks managed to pull out what appeared to be the inevitable looming eye of defeat. But it was NSU’s Meixandra Porter (Jr., Chantilly, Va.) and Jessica Russi (So., Lake Mary, Fla.) that combined for 13 of the Sharks’ 15 overtime points that sparked the win.

NSU started the game falling behind early during the first 6:00, but the deficit was short lived when Russi drained a left hand layup to give the Sharks a 7-6 lead at the 13:16 mark. NSU extended their lead by as many as 13 during the remainder of the half behind Danielle Robinson (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) team-high eight points, but eventually went into the break up 34-23.

However, before the teams could clear the floor, Concordia head coach Paul Fessler received a technical foul after two initial first-half warnings which resulted in two Shark free throws at the start of the second half. Coming out of the break, NSU’s Porter nailed the two charity shots, giving the Sharks a 36-23 lead before second half play even began.

After second-half play began, NSU posted their largest lead of 17 points when Robinson netted a three at the 16:50 mark. However, the Shark offense soon fizzled out and the Bears took control of the next 7:29, going on a 22-4 run to regain the lead, 50-49, with 9:21 left to play in regulation. The final minutes of the second half resulted in five lead changes, the last of which pitted Concordia in front by one, 61-60 with 23 seconds left.

Down by one in what seemed to be their last offensive possession of the game, Porter missed the potential game-winner with 0:06 on the clock and Concorida’s Carissa Wolyniec came down with the defensive board. But then, an unforeseeable turn of events occurred. With no timeouts left, Wolyniec calls a timeout while falling out of bounds that resulted in the Bears’ second technical foul and another pair of free throws for NSU. Porter missed the first, but came through on the second tying the game at 61-61 and sending it into overtime.

In overtime, the offensive prowess displayed in the first half returned to the Sharks, as they outscored Concordia 15-1 for the 76-62 overtime victory. Porter and Russi scored 13 of the Sharks’ 15 overtime points.

The Sharks duo also came away with a pair of double-double performances on the hardwood. Porter finished with 16 points and a season-high 10 assists, while Russi scored a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Robinson contributed 13 to the NSU winning efforts, while Jasmine Wilkins (So., Miami, Fla.) followed with 10.

Concordia was paced by Jodi Batzel with 17 points, Mandy Poke with 13 and Rachel Hanson’s 12.

The Sharks will return to action on Monday, Nov. 21 hosting Puerto Rico-Mayaguez at the NSU Arena at 7 p.m. before heading into the Thanksgiving weekend.

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