BOX SCORE
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team (16-9, 8-7 SSC) carried a six-point lead at halftime and extended it to 10 by the final horn to top the Lynn Fighting Knights (12-13, 7-8 SSC), 66-56, in the Sharks final road contest of the 2011-12 campaign.
The Fighting Knights opened an early 6-2 lead, but the Sharks tied the game up with a jumper from
Danielle Robinson (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and a transition layup by
Jasmine Wilkins (So., Miami, Fla.) that was started after her own steal. Wilkins accounted for six of the Sharks first 12 points, helping the Sharks stay tied with Lynn, 12-12, eight minutes into the game.
The Sharks then went on an 8-0 run over the next 2:30, capped by a Robinson trey to give NSU a 20-12 lead at the second media timeout. At the 6:33 mark, Wilkins gave the Sharks their largest lead of the game, 26-15, up to that point when she went coast-to-coast off her own steal scoring her fifth basket of the game on as many attempts.
Lynn rallied back into the game though, outscoring the Sharks 14-4 over a 5:14 stretch to get within one, 30-29. NSU scored the final five points of the half, highlighted by a 3-pointer from the top of the key by
Jessica Russi (So., Lake Mary, Fla.) to take a 35-29 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Meixandra Porter led all scorers in the half with 11 points, going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. She was joined in double figures by Wilkins who had 10 points, making her first five shot attempts. Tylar Tracy paced the Fighting Knights with nine points, all of which came by way of the 3-pointer.
Lynn closed the deficit to two, 38-36, during the first five minutes of the second half, but a
Jada Buckner (Sr., Loudon, Tenn.) triple, set up by Porter, put NSU back up five.
NSU gradually rebuilt its lead, going up by 11 with 8:51 to play, as
Quinessa Johnson (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) dropped in a layup. Russi maintained the 11-point lead for NSU, twice scoring buckets in response to Lynn made baskets.
Jessica Walter (Sr., Knoxville, Tenn.) put the Sharks up 13 with a pair from the charity stripe with just over two minutes left to play. The advantage would be 10 points when the final buzzer sounded, giving NSU a 66-56 victory.
Russi finished with a team-high 15 points, while Porter and Wilkins added two points to their halftime totals and finished with 13 and 12, respectively. Marquis Lee, who as the lone senior was honored before the game on senior night at the DeHornle Sports and Cultural Center, finished with a game-high 19 points. NSU hit 21 free throws in the game, its highest total since knocking down 27 against Florida Southern Jan. 7.
With the win, NSU moves into a tie for fourth in the conference at 8-7 with Florida Tech who did not play Wednesday night. Final seeding for the SSC Tournament which begins a week from today will be determined Saturday. The Sharks will host No. 14 Rollins at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft Center, while FIT will travel to Tampa. The top four seeds in the conference tournament will host a first round game before the action shifts to Lakeland, Fla. for the semifinals and finals.
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