FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.— The Nova Southeastern University women’s basketball team (13-8, 5-6 SSC) will look to be back at .500 in SSC play with a win against Eckerd (13-9, 6-6 SSC) on Saturday, Feb. 12 at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center.

 

The Sharks have won their last two SSC road games and will return the confines of their home court where they have tallied an 8-3 record. NSU is currently a perfect 3-0 in the month of February.

 

In its last game, Nova Southeastern knocked off top-seed Florida Tech in Melbourne, 73-69, in an overtime thriller.

 

Senior Stephanie Sarosi (Mims, Fla.) finished with her fifth double-double of the season with a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds.

 

Freshman Jasmine Wilkins (Miami, Fla.) set a new career high in rebounds with 14. Junior transfer Quinessa Johnson (West Chester, Ohio) tallied new career highs with 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Senior Abbie Tepe (Cincinnati, Ohio) is two rebounds away from sitting third on NSU’s all-time rebound list. The 5-3 point guard is at 463, one behind former teammate Eliza Allen (2005-09) who sits at 464.

 

Sarosi and Tepe currently hold the top-spots in points per game and assists per game in the SSC. Sarosi paces the conference with 18.0 ppg as Tepe is one of the nation’s best with 6.0 apg.

 

In its last game, Eckerd dropped the matchup against the University of Tampa, 63-51, on Wednesday.

 

Linsey Niles led the Tritons with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting. It was the third time in the last five games that the junior scored in double figures.

 

Kati Rausberg and Ashley Lutz are the Tritons leading scorers averaging 11.4 and 11.0 ppg, respectively.

Eckerd is only scoring 59.4 ppg but holds its opponents to 58.2, good for third in the SSC.

The Series vs. Eckerd

The Sharks dominate the series with a 15-8 advantage, despite NSU falling earlier in the year, 74-68.

 

The Sharks outscored Eckerd in the second half 46-34 but it was not enough as NSU headed into the locker room down in the first half, 40-22.

Sarosi paced the Sharks scoring 18 points, 12 coming in the second half. Tepe and Johnson both added 14 and 10 points, respectively, in the loss.

The duo of Rausberg and Lutz led the Tritons as they scored 23 and 19 points, respectively, and hit a combined nine 3-pointers.

Standings of the SSC
After NSU’s win over top-seed Florida Tech, the standings of the Sunshine State Conference were altered. Florida Southern is No. 1 holding a 9-2 record, with Tampa and Florida Tech both with three losses at 9-3 and 8-3, respectively, at second and third, respectively. Rollins (7-5), Eckerd (6-6) and NSU (5-6) are in the middle of the pack as Lynn (4-7), Barry (3-9) and Saint Leo (1-11) round out the standings.

If the Sharks defeat Eckerd, NSU will move up one spot in the standings as conference play begins to wind down. A win will also clinch a spot in the SSC Tournament as eight of the nine teams have a chance to win the conference tournament.

Live video (Click HERE) and live stats (Click HERE) will be available for the 2 p.m. game. Follow NSU Basketball through Twitter at www.twitter.com/NSUSharks.