FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team has one more Sunshine State Conference accolade they can add to their trophy case in Saturday’s season finale.
The Sharks (19-6, 11-4 SSC) clinched the No. 1 seed in the SSC Basketball Championships by defeating Florida Tech on the road Wednesday, 74-71. They finish up the regular season slate Saturday, facing the Barry Buccaneers (13-12, 4-11 SSC) in Miami Shores, Fla. A Shark win
or Lynn loss (the Fighting Knights are 10-5 in conference) will give NSU the outright SSC regular season title. A Lynn win
and Shark loss would mean the two teams are co-champions.
On Wednesday, NSU trailed FIT with four with about 90 seconds left.
Meixandra Porter (Sr., Chantilly, Va.) knocked down a big 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one, 1-of-2 free throws from
Danielle Robinson (So., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) tied it up, and a steal by
Jessica Russi (Jr., Lake Mary, Fla.) led to a breakaway layup by Porter to give NSU the lead for good. Porter had 27 points in the win, while Robinson had 12 points and a career-best 14 rebounds.
“Our game at Florida Tech was a big win,” said head coach LeAnn Freeland. “A lot of our players were juggling basketball and their mid-terms/eight-week course finals prior to the game, so we had to fight through some fatigue. During this time of year, it is important to keep pushing and find a way to get it done.”
Also right before game time on Wednesday, the second NCAA Regional Rankings were released, and NSU moved into the top slot in the south. A win Saturday and a good showing in the conference tournament would go a long way towards the selection committee continuing to consider NSU as a top host site option. Though that is technically out of the Sharks’ control, going ahead and nabbing the SSC’s top seed on their own has alleviated some stress for the team going forward.
“Since our players are officially on Spring Break, we are able to focus primarily on basketball over the next 10 days,” said Freeland. “We are playing pretty well right now, but we can tweak a few things in order to improve as we head into the postseason.”
Barry has lost four out of their last five games, with the lone win coming out of conference against Palm Beach Atlantic. No matter the outcome of Saturday’s game, they will be facing Florida Southern in the conference tournament in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchup (with the winner facing NSU). Coach Freeland is not overlooking the Bucs, however.
“The only game that matters right now is our game against Barry,” she said. “It will be their Senior Night, so they will be ready to play. We must come ready to defend on the ball and rebound for 40 minutes. The good news is, we should have our entire squad back in action. After facing a barrage of injuries and illness over the past few weeks, we expect to be able to play 10 of our active players on Saturday."
For the first time this season, game times for the Saturday doubleheader will be flip-flopped for the NSU men and women, and in addition, it will be a true night game instead of the regular Saturday afternoon tipoff times. The Shark women and Barry will begin at approximately 7:30, as the men have a 5:30 start. Tune in for live audio
HERE, and live stats can be viewed
HERE.
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.
