Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 1 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team fell in their Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday afternoon to Union at the NSU Arena, 83-78.
The Sharks (5-1) led all throughout the second half until Union (4-0) tied it up on a 3-pointer by Chelsea Bodiford with 4:29 left, and took a 76-74 lead on two Fredi Nielsen free throws at 3:41.
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) would drive the lane two possessions later for the Sharks and her layup would tie it again at 76-76 with 3:01 left, but Union outscored NSU 7-2 to end the game and pick up the win.
DeAnna Thompson, who had a huge game with 25 points and 17 rebounds, hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final 1:56. She made two, followed by two from teammate Kelsey Risner, to put the Lady Bulldogs up 80-76 at 1:22.
After a Shark miss, Union had possession underneath the home basket up four, but threw away the subsequent in-bound.
Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) stole the errant pass and laid it in to cut the lead to two with 53 seconds to go. But again, Thompson came up with a big rebound, this time on the offensive end, and was fouled. She made 1-of-2 to put the Lady Bulldogs up three, 81-78.
The Sharks set up to tie, but
Molly Blomer's (Jr., West Chester, Ohio) 3-pointer was in and out, with Thompson corralling her 17th board. She made both free throws for the final margin.
NSU was led by
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) with 16 points, with Merritt adding 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Kayla Wright (So., Lauderhill, Fla.) had 12 points,
Alexis Murphy (Jr., Carlisle, Ohio) had 11, including three 3-pointers, and
Winter Rodriguez (So., Miami, Fla.) set a new career scoring mark for the second straight day with 10.
Valley led NSU with a new best of 11 rebounds while adding eight points and five assists. The Sharks set a new school record in the loss by only committing seven turnovers and had a healthy advantage in points in the paint, 52-30.
NSU will have another battle on their hands next Saturday at the NSU Arena as they will host SSC rival Tampa, currently ranked No. 6, in each team's conference opener at 2 p.m.The Spartans are 4-1, losing on Friday night to Western Washington, 85-56.
