Box Score Saturday Links vs. Shorter:
LIVE BARRY VIDEO WITH NSU AUDIO | LIVE STATSFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 4 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team scored the first 17 points and eventually had a 31-2 run to start, as they defeated Alabama-Huntsville in Friday night's season opener at the NSU Arena, 80-40.
The Sharks (1-0) kept the Chargers (0-1) scoreless until the 11:24 mark, and held them to 18.5 percent shooting overall (5-of-27) in the first half while forcing 16 turnovers. Conversely, NSU shot 55.2 percent from the field and made 5-of-10 3-pointers before the break.
Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and
Kayla Wright (So., Lauderhill, Fla.) shared game-high honors with 14 points apiece. Robinson made 2-of-3 3-pointers and had four rebounds, and Wright, in her Shark debut, was 5-of-7 and had a team-high seven boards. The Sharks outrebounded the Chargers 44-29.
Three members of the Shark backcourt filled up the stat sheet in multiple categories.
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) was the third Shark in double digits with 10 points, while adding four rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) had nine points (including 6-of-6 from the line), five assists and three steals, and
Alexis Murphy (Jr., Carlisle, Ohio) had seven points, five rebounds and three assists.
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) added nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, and
Molly Blomer (Jr., West Chester, Ohio) had eight points and five rebounds.
Besides rebounding, NSU also led in assists (18-7) and steals (15-7), and in all the peripheral categories: Points in the paint (34-20), points off turnovers (26-9), fast break points (12-0) and bench points (30-17).
The Sharks will head to Miami Shores, Fla., on the campus of Barry to take on the Shorter Hawks on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. That game will follow the homestanding Bucs hosting UAH at 4 p.m.
