Box Score BOX SCORE
RALEIGH, N.C. – The No. 17 Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team (6-2) cut a 20-point second half deficit to four with 1:44 remaining, but couldn’t overcome Fayetteville State (7-1) in a 79-69 loss Friday night at the Shaw Invitational.
The Broncos led 52-32 with 12:42 to go. But
Meixandra Porter (Sr., Chantilly, Va.) scored 14 of the team’s next 20 points, and the 20-10 run got the game down to 10 (62-52, 6:55 left).
Two and half minutes later, a Kristen Hanzer 3-pointer for Fayetteville State pushed the lead out to 12 at 71-59, but then the Sharks went on a 10-2 run.
Amanda Burakoski (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) had the final five points of the run, and her three-pointer with 1:44 left cut it to that four-point deficit (73-69).
“We didn’t come out of the gates very strong, and Fayetteville State is a very good team,” said head coach LeAnn Freeland. “They came at us in the full court and affected the flow of our offense. I thought we did a pretty decent job defensively, but we have to do a better job limiting easy shots.”
Following a Bronco turnover, NSU had four opportunities over the next 1:01 to make it a one-possession game, but all four shots missed. Fayetteville State converted back-to-back three-point plays to make the final 10-point margin.
Porter had five 3-pointers, all after the halftime break, and led all scorers with 24 points. She added six steals and four assists. Even with Porter’s second-half hot streak, the team was only 8-of-29 from behind the arc, including 2-of-12 in the first half.
“We’re a great 3-point shooting team, and obviously, it wasn’t falling tonight for us,” said Freeland. “Meix did hit some big shots down the stretch to give us an opportunity to be in the game, but ufortunately, we just had too big of a deficit to overcome.”
Burakoski and
Danielle Robinson (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) each had 12 points, and
Jessica Russi (Jr., Lake Mary, Fla.) added 10 along with seven assists.
Richelle Carach (Jr., Naples, Fla.) had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Sharks made their comeback despite the fact that Fayetteville State shot an astounding 81.8 percent in the second half (18-of-22). The Broncos shot 66.7 percent overall in the game (30-of-45), compared to 38.8 percent for NSU (26-of-67). In both NSU losses this season, they have been outshot percentage-wise from the field (both times, the Sharks shot under 40 percent), and have been outrebounded as well (on Friday, it was 34-30 in favor of the Broncos).
“Fayetteville State is very athletic, they’re physical and they’re strong,” said Freeland. “We have to learn how to play a physical game, and that’s why we came on this trip. I knew it was going to be important for our players to learn how to play more physical and be able to implement our defensive positioning perfectly in order to be successful against very good teams.”
NSU was also able to trim the deficit despite missing two Friday starters down the stretch. Carach fouled out with 10:58 left, while Robinson picked up her fifth foul at the 4:25 mark. Also,
Tailor Jones (Sr., Altamonte Springs, Fla.), who started the first six games this season, missed her second straight due to injury.
The team is right back at it again Saturday, finishing up play in the Shaw Invitational against the host team, the No. 13 Bears (2-1 after a 109-62 win Friday over Washington Adventist).
“Shaw is very good, very deep, and again, big and strong,” said Freeland. “They really cause a lot of problems with their full-court defense, and look to get a lot of points in transition and into their post players. We’re going to have to bounce back quickly, and I’m excited to see how our players respond and I’m hopeful that our post defense will improve overnight.”
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