Box Score BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Seven Sharks scored in double digits as the Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team moved to 2-0 on the young season with a 96-33 rout of UPR-Mayaguez (0-3) on Sunday afternoon at home.
Amanda Burakoski (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.),
Meixandra Porter (Sr., Chantilly, Va.) and
Danielle Robinson (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) all tied for team- and game-high honors in scoring with 13 points, and all 10 Sharks that played got into the scoring column. Also in double digits were
Tailor Jones (Sr., Altamonte, Fla.) with 12,
Molly Blomer (Fr., West Chester, Ohio) and
Richelle Carach (Jr., Naples, Fla.) with 11 and
Taylor Buie (Fr., Puyallup, Wash.) with 10.
“When I put the schedule together, I knew that we would have a lot of new players on the roster, and the early games were designed to give everyone an opportunity to get used to the system and our program, in a game situation,” said head coach LeAnn Freeland. “Obviously, by being able to give all 10 players who are currently healthy significant minutes, it gives them a great opportunity, and to have seven players in double figure scoring is a tribute to the depth that we do have.”
Jones had a fantastic floor game, leading the Sharks with six assists and six steals (among the team’s 23), and tying for the team high in rebounds with Robinson with eight boards. Blomer,
Julia Salmio (Jr., Vantaa, Finland) and
Khadejra Young (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) all had seven rebounds on the afternoon. Point guard
Jessica Russi (Jr., Lake Mary, Fla.) had five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The Sharks busted open a close game early on by going on a 22-5 run over an 11-minute span in the first half, and actually closed the half out with a 38-11 spurt, to lead 50-17. At that point, they were shooting 54 percent as a team, and had outrebounded the Janes 31-14.
“We talked about coming out with intensity,” said Freeland. “I didn’t feel like we were at the level needed on game day at the beginning of the game, but after we ran up and down a few times, I felt like we had a few players pick us up defensively. I thought Meixandra Porter and Danielle Robinson provided that intensity on the ball, which created opportunities for players like Tailor Jones and Amanda Burakoski to makes plays away from the ball. We’re a team that wants to get out and run after playing great defense, and our defense always creates easy offense, which I think got us going in the first half.”
Overall, NSU shot 48.1 percent for the game (37-of-77), compared to 22.7 percent for Mayaguez (15-of-66). They won the assist battle, 23-5, and nearly tripled the Janes in steals, 23-8. The final rebounding margin was plus-32, at 63-31. Those steal and rebound totals both tied program records set in 2006 and 2011, respectively.
“We have been trying to work on our rebounding and trying to really emphasize the significance of that particular statistic,” said Freeland. “Today, we outrebounded them by 32, and it was definitely an overall team effort. There were a lot of people who had seven, eight rebounds, and it looked like more of a priority. We had a lot of offensive rebounds (25), and Danielle Robinson had six on her own. We did improve that particular area and continue to look to improve all facets of the game.”
The Sharks host another Puerto Rican school, UPR-Rio Piedras, in their next matchup. Game time on Thursday, Nov. 15, is 5:30 p.m. at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center. It is the first game of a women’s-men’s doubleheader, with the latter taking on St. Thomas in their season opener at 7:30 p.m. Free pizza will be served prior to the game in the Flight Deck.
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