BOX SCORE
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team (17-10, 8-8 SSC) outrebounded Eckerd (15-11, 8-8 SSC) 48-27, setting the tone for its 72-56 defeat of the Tritons in the quarterfinals of the SSC Tournament Wednesday evening.
Jessica Russi (So., Lake Mary, Fla.) tallied a career-high 21 points and 15 rebounds against the Tritons to help the Sharks move on to the SSC semifinals Saturday, where they will take on Florida Southern at 5:00 p.m. in Lakeland, Fla.
The Sharks came out playing high intensity basketball in the opening stages and it paid off with a 12-7 lead at the first media timeout.
Danielle Robinson (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) wasted little time scoring, laying in an offensive rebound just 10 seconds into the action.
After the break,
Jasmine Wilkins (So., Miami, Fla.) used back-to-back buckets to keep the NSU advantage at five, 16-11, at the 13:24 mark.
Quinessa Johnson (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) extended the NSU lead to nine, 20-11, with a pair of free throws just over a minute later.
The Tritons would not back down though, using a 2:45 stretch to go on a 10-2 run and close the gap to one, 22-21 with 9:24 left in the first half. Consecutive 3-pointers from Robinson and Russi put the Sharks back up by five, 30-25, and brought a timeout from the Eckerd bench.
The high intensity basketball continued late in the half in the form of staunch defense. Russi picked the pocket of the Eckerd ball handler and then laid the ball in on the other end to put the score at 34-27 in NSU’s favor just under the four-minute mark. Russi later used the dribble-drive to tally two more in the paint and give NSU its largest lead to that point, 38-27, with a minute left in the opening stanza.
The Sharks went into the halftime intermission carrying a 10-point lead. Robinson and Russi each tallied 11 points for the Sharks, while Linsey Niles paced the Tritons with 14. The most glaring stat from the opening half was on the glass, as the Sharks, who had nine offensive rebounds, outrebounded the Tritons 25-9.
After trading baskets early in the second half,
Jada Buckner (Sr., Loudon, Tenn.) knocked down a trey to put the Sharks up by 14 at the first media timeout. After an old-fashion three-point play from Russi, Porter drained a triple from the corner to give the Sharks a 20-point advantage, 54-34, with 13:40 remaining to play.
Eckerd did its best to try and chip away at the lead, but a pinpoint pass through the lane from Russi to Wilkins led to an easy two points for the Sharks and kept NSU ahead by 19 points, 60-41, with nine minutes left.
The Tritons again tried to battle back into the game, but a block by Russi and a steal by Wilkins kept Eckerd from putting together a solid run and kept the NSU lead at 16 with 3:29 left in the game.
The Sharks held off each rally the Tritons tried to put together, coming away with steals, blocks and rebounds when necessary to capture a 72-56 victory and advance to the semifinals Saturday.
Russi was joined in double figures by Robinson (16), Wilkins (14) and
Meixandra Porter (Jr., Chantilly, Va.) (14). Wilkins, Johnson and Robinson each also pulled down seven boards.
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