Box Score
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 4 Nova Southeastern women's basketball team buried a school-record 19 3-pointers on their way to another new program standard, 110 points, in taking their Sunshine State Conference opener over Florida Southern Saturday at the NSU Arena, 110-65.
The Sharks (7-0, 1-0 SSC) shot 64.5 percent from the field (40-of-62) to set another new mark, and adding her name to the record books yet again was point guard
Jessica Russi (Sr., Lake Mary, Fla.), breaking her own mark for the third time, with 15 assists on Saturday. She also only committed one turnover on the afternoon.
Taylor Buie (So., Puyallup, Wash.) hit the game's first two shots, two 3-pointers to stake the Sharks to a 6-0 lead. The team would miss their next two, but, beginning with Buie's third '3' at the 13:06 mark, made their next four long-range shots, and made nine of 12 from that distance to complete the first half.
All told, the Sharks made 12-of-17 first-half three pointers, but also outscored the Mocs (4-3, 0-1 SSC) in the paint, 20-16, making 10 of their 12 shots inside the arc in those first 20 minutes. Buie made five 3's in the first for all 15 of her points in the game, and
Danielle Robinson (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had all of her 15 before the break as well. Overall, NSU blitzed out to a 63-25 lead at the break with an overall shooting rate of 75.9 percent (22-of-29).
"Our players entered the game today with a lot of focus and maturity," said head coach LeAnn Freeland. "This is the week before finals, so we had concern about fatigue and distraction, but they were ready to play."
In the second, the Sharks continued to make hay from long distance, making 7-of-12 3-point shots.
Ashley Robinson (Fr., Jensen Beach, Fla.) hit 3-of-4 from that range, and 6-of-8 overall, to account for a new career high of 15 points.
Molly Blomer (So., West Chester, Ohio) hit all three of her 3's, with the second, at 6:57, marking the team's 16th to set the new record (surpassing 15 last season against Alabama-Huntsville, on Nov. 18, 2012), and her third, at 5:17, breaking the total point mark of 99 set all the way back on Feb. 9, 2005 against Saint Leo.
Besides Buie and the Robinsons (all with 15), three more Sharks were in double digits, led by
Richelle Carach (Sr., Naples, Fla.) with 16 on 5-of-6 shooting. She and
Jasmine Wilkins (Sr., Miami), with 13, controlled the paint, giving the Sharks a 42-34 advantage down low for the game.
Julia Salmio (Sr., Vantaa, Finland) equaled her career high with 12 points off the bench.
Following behind those six were Blomer with nine and
Amanda Burakoski (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) with eight on a flawless 3-of-3 afternoon.
Alexis Murphy (So., Carlisle, Ohio) had five points, a team-high six rebounds, and a career-high six assists. She and Russi, along with Blomer's career-high four, led NSU to a 32-9 assist margin.
"Our players have great team chemistry this season," said Freeland, whose Sharks have had 15 or more assists in all seven wins. "The chemistry is evident by their ability to find each other on the offensive end of the floor. To have 32 assists and six players in double digits is tremendous."
The Mocs' leading scorers on the day were Christin Strawbridge and Mariah Harris, with 15 and 12, respectively, though Harris was scoreless in the second half. The Sharks also held the conference's leading 3-point shooter, Cashala Thompson, who came in making 3.2 a game, to a 1-of-8 showing on Saturday.
NSU will host their final showcase of the season at the NSU arena on Dec. 16-17, the 2013 Shark Classic. Each day's tipoff will be at 6 p.m. for the home team, as they host Benedict the first day and No. 23 Shaw on the 17th.
"Even though this is a big win, our team must remain determined to improve with two big region games coming up," said Freeland.
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