FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 14 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team hosts the Shark Holiday Classic this weekend, with they and the Barry Bucs taking on Albany State and Fayetteville State on Friday and Saturday at the NSU Arena.
 
The Sharks (6-2) rebounded from two losses in a row to defeat Shaw on Monday afternoon, 87-77. Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) led the way with a career-best 19 points and just missed out on a double-double with nine rebounds, while Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) had 18 to become just the sixth NSU women's player in history to go over 1,000 points in her career. In the matchup, NSU made seven 3-pointers in each half, with four Sharks notching three or more, led by Valley's new standard of five.
 
Currently, the Sharks lead all of NCAA DII in field goal percentage, shooting 49.9 percent in their first eight games. Wilkins leads all DII individuals in shooting as well, at a 67.2 percent clip, with teammate Kayla Wright (So., Lauderhill, Fla.) seventh overall at 64.5 percent. Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) leads the SSC, and is 18th in the nation, in steals per game at 3.3. She also leads the team, and is tied for first in the conference, is assists at 5.4 per, with a career-best nine against Shaw.
 
All three of those Sharks are currently in double digits in scoring, as is leading point-getter Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale), tied for third in the league at 16 points per. Wilkins is seventh at 13.8, Merritt tied for eighth at 13.5 and Wright 11th at 13 even.
 
The Sharks will meet their first opponent in the classic, Albany State, on Friday at 2 p.m. The Golden Rams, picked to finish first in the East Division of the SIAC, have struggled out of the gate. They have lost their first five games, including two to SSC schools: Florida Tech on Dec. 2 (99-70) and this past Wednesday when they fell to Eckerd (75-47). They are led by sophomore Artisha Holston, averaging a double-double at 10.5 points and 11.5 rebounds through the team's first four games.
 
The only meeting between these two teams was in last year's NCAA South Region semifinal round here at the NSU Arena. The Sharks buried five of their first eight 3-point shots to build as much as a 22-point first half lead and eventually would lead by as many as 36 in a 96-69 win. They had five players in double digits, led by Robinson's 21. Senior Julia Salmio made her first five shots, including two 3-pointers, and tied her career high in the first half alone, with 12 points. A layup  early in the second half pushed her past that total, and she finished with 19 in the game on 7-of-10 shooting.
 
On Friday, following NSU-ASU, Barry will play Fayetteville State. The following day, the teams will trade opponents, with the Sharks taking on FSU first, at 4 p.m., and the final game between Barry and Albany at 6.
 
Fayetteville State is 4-3 to start the season, but have lost their last two, to Claflin and Lander. Like Albany, the Lady Broncos also feature a top rebounder, in Deja Middleton, at 10.3 per game. Their leading scorer is Doreen Richardson, who is just a tick under 14 points a night at 13.9.

These teams met one other time, on Dec. 14, 2012 in the Shaw Invitational in Raleigh, N.C. FSU won, 79-69. In that game, the Sharks cut a 20-point second half deficit to four with 1:44 remaining, but couldn't get over the hump. Mexiandra Porter had five 3-pointers, all after the halftime break, and led all scorers with 24 points. Robinson had 12 points in the loss.
 
All games will feature live streaming video, with audio broadcasting HERE, and live stats HERE.