Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga. – The No. 4 Nova Southeastern women's basketball team survived in a hostile environment to top the host school by two points, 73-71, in Armstrong State's BJ Ford Classic on Saturday night.
The Sharks (4-0) and Pirates (1-4) battled until the final horn. The second half alone saw three ties and nine lead changes, the last going in NSU's favor with 4:03 to go on
Monaye Merritt's (R-Jr., Philadelphia) 3-pointer to put them ahead 63-61.
Though the visitors would be up five points on two occasions, each time, ASU's Shermika Harris buried a '3' to cut it to two. The first cut it to 70-68 with 17.7 seconds left, but Merritt made two free throws, got a steal (her ninth of the game) and made 1-of-2 free throws on her next trip to go back up 73-68.
Again, Harris made one from long range to make it 73-71 with 11 seconds left, but the Sharks were able to successfully in-bound after the timeout and play keep-away long enough that time ran out before the Pirates could commit a foul.
Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led the victorious Sharks with 19 points, while Merritt added 16. Merritt also tied the NSU women's record with nine steals while adding five rebounds and five assists.
Kayla Wright (So., Lauderhill, Fla.) chipped in with 11 points off the bench, while
Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) had seven points and a team-high eight boards.
Harris led ASU with 23 points, and Brigitta Barta had 20 for the Pirates, on 8-of-11 shooting.
The Sharks will return to Fort Lauderdale for their annual NSU Thanksgiving Classic next Friday and Saturday, hosting Stillman and Union, respectively. They will play each day at 2 p.m. at the NSU Arena.
