Box Score BOX SCORE
SAINT LEO, Fla. – Despite
Danielle Robinson's career-high 28 points, the No. 17 Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, 73-69 to Sunshine State Conference foe Saint Leo.
“Saint Leo was the better team today, they were focused and wanted it more,” said head coach LeAnn Freeland. “Wins are earned by playing team defense and controlling the boards, and we didn’t take care of those areas today. We will learn a lot from this loss.”
Robinson (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led the way for the Sharks (5-1, 0-1 SSC), going 6-of-12 on 3-pointers amongst her nine made field goals. Saint Leo, chosen ninth in the preseason SSC poll, wins their conference opener and improves to 5-2 on the season.
“Danielle’s shooting did keep us in the game, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough,” said Freeland. “She is a competitor and would rather win than anything else.”
Meixandra Porter (Sr., Chantilly, Va.) joined Robinson in double figures in points with 16, while
Amanda Burakoski (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
NSU led 55-50 with 11:24 remaining, but Saint Leo took a lead that they would never relinquish by scoring the next 10 points, in what would end up being a 15-2 run.
The Sharks didn’t go away. With 1:38 remaining, trailing 70-63, they scored six straight cut it to one with 1:02 left (70-69). Unfortunately, from that point on, the Lions would score the last three points of the game, while NSU missed three 3-pointers in the final 20 seconds.
After shooting at least 44 percent in each of their first five wins, the Sharks were at 33.8 percent Saturday (23-of-68). Saint Leo shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the field, and the Lions outrebounded NSU 51-36, with three players having 10 or more boards: Chelsea Williams (12), Keishara Green (11) and Chelsea Connelly (10). Williams had 25 points to take game honors, while Kinnara Lewis added 21.
After not having played for 13 days prior to Saturday, the Sharks will have another long layoff before next traveling to Washington, D.C., to take on District of Columbia on Dec. 11. Tipoff time in the nation’s capital will be at 6 p.m.
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