BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University women’s basketball team (13-9, 6-7 SSC) topped the Spartans of Tampa (9-14, 2-11 SSC), 61-54, Saturday at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center with a lights-out performance by freshman
Danielle Robinson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).
Robinson led the Sharks with 25 points, 21 of which were from downtown. Robinson’s 7-for-11 performance from beyond the arc places her in the NSU record book, capturing the single-game 3-point record. Robinson had tied the previous record of six this season on two separate occasions.
The Sharks started off slow, only netting five points to Tampa’s four in the first five minutes of the game. As momentum started to pick up, it became an outside battle between the Sharks and the Spartans shooting 60 and 50 percent, respectively, from three.
Robinson got the ball rolling eight minutes in for the Sharks, putting down three of her seven total three balls and contributing nine points of a 16-8 run for the Sharks over a four minute span.
Tampa returned fire at the eight-minute mark in the first with a ten-point slide and a momentum boost to put them one ahead of the Sharks, 26-25, with a little over two minutes to play in the half. With a Tampa layup and responding treys by Robinson and
Jessica Russi (Lake Mary, Fla.), the Sharks regained the lead, sending them into the half up 31-28.
The second half started as a three-point showdown between teammates Robinson and
Meixandra Porter (Chantilly, Va.), who matched each other shot-for-shot, totaling two apiece from beyond the arc and combining for 12 points in the first five minutes of the half, to extend their lead to 43-34.
It was another swing, this time nine points for the Spartans in the following five minutes that gave them another shot to regain the lead, which evened the score at 43-43.
Robinson drove the lane, adding two on a layup, which moved the Sharks ahead by two. These were the only points either team would score for the next five minutes, until Tampa evened the score at 45-45 with 5:27 remaining in regulation.
The Sharks held strong defensively in the final three minutes of the game holding the Spartans scoreless, while adding seven more offensively to close out their 13th win of the season.
Another Shark notable was Russi, who muscled her way to a team-high 11 boards. With her seven triples today, Robinson now has 52 during her freshman campaign, placing her just one shy of second place on the single season list in NSU behind Eliza Allen who hit 53 in the 2008-09 season and Allen also holds the top spot with 63 in the 2007-08 season.
The women will travel 45 minutes north Wednesday, Feb. 15 as they clash with the Sailfish of Palm Beach Atlantic in a non-conference tilt at 6 p.m.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by
clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
clicking here.
