Following a 2-0 start with large margins of victory, the Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team expects closer games this weekend with a docket of three games in four days, against Rio Piedras Thursday, and then in the NSU Classic Saturday and Sunday.

The Sharks defeated Palm Beach Atlantic, 97-57, on Nov. 9, and two days later, were even better spread-wise against UPR-Mayaguez, 96-33.

“I felt that our depth and intensity were really overwhelming the first two games,” said head coach LeAnn Freeland. “We’re hoping to be able to continue to build on that going into the weekend.”

The slate of games begins with another Puerto Rican school, Rio Piedras, this Thursday, Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m.

“Some things that our coaching staff was excited to see so far is our ability to score, to run and to defend on the ball,” she said. “A game like Rio Piedras will continue to build on what we’ve already done, and help us to get prepared for the weekend against two tough region opponents. I’m sure the players will get up a little bit more because they do know the significance of the region games, but as a coach, I hope our players are always ready to play.”

Those opponents, along with Florida Tech, are taking part in the NSU Classic, a two-day, four-team event, this Saturday and Sunday. The Sharks play first both days, at noon. Saturday they face Clark Atlanta, followed by Florida Tech against Alabama-Huntsville. On Sunday, it’s NSU vs. UAH, then Florida Tech against Clark Atlanta.

Clark Atlanta was 14-12 a year ago, while Alabama-Huntsville, 23-7, advanced into the national tournament.

“Clark Atlanta is an athletic team, they have strong point guard play and we’re excited to see how we match up against them,” said Freeland. “Sunday is a huge region game for us. Alabama-Huntsville was in the NCAA Tournament last year, return their key players and Coach (Roy) Heintz has done a great job building their program. We were excited to get them on the schedule. This weekend is going to be very big for us.”

SHARK STATS
• Meixandra Porter (Sr., Chantilly, Va.) won the SSC Player of the Week after scoring a school-record 36 points (with another school record of nine 3-pointers) in the season opener and averaging 24.5 points per game. Her scoring average and 3-pointers made (10) both lead the conference.
• The next five players in the scoring column average between 9.5 and 13.0 ppg: Danielle Robinson (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), 13.0; Amanda Burakoski (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.), 11.0; Tailor Jones (Sr., Altamonte Springs, Fla.), 11.0; Molly Blomer (Fr., West Chester, Ohio), 10.0; and Richelle Carach (Jr., Naples, Fla.), 9.5.
• Point guard Jessica Russi (Jr., Lake Mary, Fla.) set a school record of her own against Palm Beach Atlantic with 12 assists. Her average of 8.0 assists a game leads the SSC.
• The 5-8 Robinson leads the Sharks in rebounding with eight each game. Ten of her 16 boards have come on the offensive end.
• Jones is tied for the team lead in steals with Burakoski with eight (placing them both second in the conference) and is second on the squad in both rebounding (6.5) and assists (4.5).
• Blomer is tops on the team and in the SSC in field goal percentage, having only missed one shot in the first two games of her career (8-of-9, .889). Her 20 points have come in only 23 minutes of floor time. Carach is right behind her, and is fourth in the SSC, with a FG% of .727 (8-of-11).
• All 10 players average at least 4.0 points a game, with six newcomers each scoring the first points of their Shark careers: Blomer, Taylor Buie (Fr., Puyallup, Wash.), Burakoski, Jones, Julia Salmio (Jr., Vantaa, Finland) and Khadejra Young (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

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