Box Score BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team returned to the NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center for their first home game in 55 days, and routed Sunshine State Conference foe Florida Southern, 76-53.
The Sharks (10-3, 2-1 SSC) ran their winning streak to four games, and were over 50 percent shooting from the field for the third straight game (30-of-57, 52.6 percent). For the sixth time this season, they notched double digits in made 3-pointers, going 10-of-19 Saturday for the same exact percentage.
The Mocs (7-6, 2-2 SSC) kept pace early, scoring eight straight points to take a 16-14 lead with 11:44 to go in the first half. But it was a short-lived lead, one that turned out to be their last of the game, as the Sharks went on a 15-2 run over the next nearly four minutes, moving ahead to stay, 29-18.
At the break, the Sharks held a 13-point advantage, 41-28.
Taylor Buie (Fr., Puyallup, Wash.) who earned the second start of her young NSU career, had that scoring margin by herself, with 13 points in the first half, on 6-of-10 shooting.
NSU came out of the blocks aggressively in the second half with a 13-3 run, capped by the first career 3-pointer by
Alexis Murphy (Fr., Carlisle, Ohio). Murphy set a new career high in the game with eight points.
“We had a very good team effort today," said head coach LeAnn Freeland. "Some of our players who normally produce well were a little sluggish and we had others who stepped up for us. Two of our freshmen, Taylor Buie and Alexis Murphy, gave us very good minutes. It is great to see all of our players finding more comfort with our style of play.”
Amanda Burakoski (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the squad with 17 points, going 7-of-10 from the field. She and
Meixandra Porter (Sr., Chantilly, Va.), who finished with 15, were each 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Buie finished with 15 points as well, and
Danielle Robinson (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had 10.
Florida Southern was led by Mariah Harris, who had a double-double off the bench with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Sharks are now 10-0 when they outrebound their opponent (and conversely, 0-3 when they don’t). On, Saturday it was a 33-31 advantage. They also won the assist category, 13-8, and had 11 steals compared to the Mocs’ nine.
“Florida Southern is a team who plays every possession and outrebounds their opponents (on average) by seven," said Freeland. "Even though it felt, at times, that they were controlling the boards, we managed to win the rebounding battle by two.”
NSU moves on for two tough conference road matchups next week, each against ranked opponents. They will travel to No. 21 Rollins on Wednesday, Jan. 16 (a 5:30 p.m. start), and then face off against No. 10 Tampa Saturday, Jan. 19, a 2 p.m. tip.
“We have two big games this week starting at Rollins on Wednesday night," said Freeland. "Rollins is coming off their best season in the history of their program and return players who know how to win. It will be a battle.”
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.
