FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 17 Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team plays its Sunshine State Conference opener on Saturday, their first game in 13 days.
The Sharks moved up two slots in the latest USA TODAY Sports NCAA Division II Top 25 Coaches’ Poll despite not having played since November 18, a win over Alabama-Huntsville to move to 5-0 on the year. Saturday’s game is their first on the road as well, against the Saint Leo Lions.
“Since we haven’t played a game since UAH, our players eagerly anticipate our game at Saint Leo,” said head coach LeAnn Freeland. “We’ve used our practice time to improve our half-court offense and overall fundamentals, and to continue to develop our team communication.”
A possible downfall to such a long time off is loss of focus, but Freeland is not concerned since this is an SSC matchup.
“Our game versus St. Leo is our most important so far, since it is our conference opener and a region game,” she said. “Our coaching staff has been impressed by the positive strides taken by the entire team this past week. Specifically, we have seen tremendous growth in
Taylor Buie,
Khadejra Young and
Tailor Jones in being able to implement our principles.”
The NSU offense has been stellar in their first five games, averaging 93 points a contest and winning by an average margin of over 47 points, both tops in the conference. But credit also has to go to their defense, which leads the SSC in scoring defense (45.8 points a game), field goal percentage and 3-point percentage against (opponents are only shooting 30% against them, and only 14.5% from behind the arc), and steals (16.4 a game).
“Our offensive numbers may be impressive after five games, but it’s our defense that continues to be our number one focus,” said Freeland. “I feel we have the three best on-ball defenders in the country –
Danielle Robinson,
Meixandra Porter and
Jessica Russi – that set the tone every possession. Our defensive pressure results in steals away from the ball, which translates into easy points in transition. Great teams know how to work for and get easy points.”
Overall, the Sharks lead the SSC in 14 team categories, which also includes rebounding offense (48.0 per game), rebounding margin (+14.8), assists (21.8), turnover margin (+7.4) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2).
Saturday marks the first time that NSU has ever played as a nationally-ranked team. Freeland doesn’t feel as if the recognition will change how her team plays.
“Even though our players are excited about the No. 17 national ranking, they have kept a level head,” she said. “They understand they need to maintain their edge, because every team gets a lot more fired up to play a ranked and undefeated opponent.”
SHARK STATS
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Porter leads five NSU double-digit scorers on the season at 19.2 a game, ranking her second in the Sunshine State Conference. She is also second in the league in 3-pointers made per game (3.0) and is seventh in 3-point field goal percentage, at 48.4 percent.
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Point guard Russi’s per-game average of 6.4 leads the SSC, while Jones is just behind her at 6.0 (second in the conference). Russi is fourth in assist to turnover ratio (1.9) and Jones is seventh (1.5).
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Carach leads the SSC in field goal percentage (69.2%) and is also third in the conference in offensive rebounding (3.8), fifth in free throw percentage (87.5%) and seventh in rebounding (7.4).
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Burakoski is third in the conference in field goal shooting (61.1%), and Jones is tied for fourth in defensive rebounding (5.6).
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All five starters rank in the top 10 and average at least two steals per game: Robinson (2.8, second), Porter and Russi (2.6, each tied for third), Jones (2.4, tied for sixth) and Burakoski (2.0, tied for 10th).
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