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Game Notes
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 4 Nova Southeastern women's basketball team hits the road for their second straight Sunshine State Conference contest, taking on the Lynn Fighting Knights Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. in Boca Raton, Fla.
Last Saturday, the Sharks (10-0, 2-0 SSC) trailed Eckerd by 14 in the first half and by nine at the break, but held the Tritons to just 13 points and 14.8 percent shooting in the second to win, 69-50. The team's win streak of 10 is the longest in program history, snapping a nine-game stretch back in February and March of 2008.
Lynn (8-3, 1-0 SSC) won their only in-conference matchup, back on Dec. 7, 72-71 at Florida Tech. They've gone 2-2 since that point, with the last decision a loss on Saturday to Palm Beach Atlantic, 64-61.
The Fighting Knights feature one of the league's top defenses, ranking fourth in the SSC in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense, and first in the conference (and 10th in the nation) in blocked shots per game.
Newcomer Sharneka McCatty's five double-doubles in best in the SSC, and her 8.2 rebounds a game is tied for sixth. Point guard Shattoria Baker leads the team and ranks among the league leaders in assists (4.5, third), steals (1.5, tied for seventh) and free throw percentage (86.2, third). Lynn's leading scorer is Zachara Bailey (14.5).
The Sharks now feature two individual leaders in all of DII:
Richelle Carach (Sr., Naples, Fla.) continues to lead all players with a shooting percentage of 68.2 percent, and
Jessica Russi (Sr., Lake Mary, Fla.), by virtue of her 13 assists against Eckerd, is now averaging 9.9 per game, also tops in the nation. Russi has five games this season with a dozen assists or more.
In addition, the Sharks' leading scorer,
Taylor Buie (So., Puyallup, Wash.) is second in the country in 3-point percentage at 53.1 percent. She has made at least two 3-pointers in every game this season, and has shot 40 percent or better from long range in all 10 games. Her 17.3 points per game ranks third in the conference, while her 3.4 made 3's per game is the league's best.
Last year, the Sharks swept the season series. In Boca on Jan. 26,
Amanda Burakoski (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds to lift NSU to a 63-61 win. There was less drama in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 23, as the Sharks forced 30 Lynn turnovers and won 89-59.
Tipoff is 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday from the de Hoernle Sports and Cultural Center on Lynn's campus in Boca. Live stats will be
available here, and
video and
audio can be found at those respective links.
SHARK STATS
• Buie remains one of four players averaging double digits in scoring for the Sharks. All four achieved that against Eckerd as well, led by Buie's 18. Carach (15.2, fifth in the SSC) extended her streak to all 10 games this year with 12 on Saturday.
Danielle Robinson (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is next on the year at 14.8 (seventh in the league) and had 13 against the Tritons. Finally,
Jasmine Wilkins (Sr., Miami) had 16 Saturday and is at 11.5 on the season (15th in the SSC).
• Wilkins is the team's leading rebounder and is 15th in that category as well, at 6.2. She narrowly missed out on her third double-double of the year against Eckerd with nine boards. She also shoots 63 percent on the season, third in the league and eighth in the nation.
• Carach is second in the conference and 17th in the country in free throw percentage, at 91.7 percent. Buie is sixth in the league (82.5).
• Besides Buie's 3-point percentage, the Sharks have three more in the SSC's top nine: Robinson, fifth at 44.2 percent;
Alexis Murphy (So., Carlisle, Ohio), eighth at 41.7; and Burakoski, ninth at 40.4.
• Russi also slots third in steals (2.5) and is sixth in blocked shots (1.0). Her assist/turnover ratio of 1.9 is fourth, a spot behind Buie's 2.0.
• The Sharks rank in the top four in the nation in seven different categories, including being tops in DII in assists (22.2). They are second in assist/turnover ratio (1.4) and 3-point field goals made per game (10.9); third in scoring offense (90.8), field goal percentage (49.7) and 3-point field goal percentage (41.1); and fourth in scoring margin (+26.6).
• All of these marks lead the conference, and the team is tops in steals as well, at 10.6. They are second in the SSC in turnover margin (+3.6) and free throw percentage (74.2).
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