Box Score
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 4 Nova Southeastern women's basketball team notched their 20th victory of the season, with five scoring in double digits in a rout of Sunshine State Conference foe Lynn, 94-55.
The Sharks (20-1, 10-1 SSC) led wire-to-wire, and after Lynn (11-10, 4-7 SSC) cut what was once a 13-point lead to three (27-24), NSU ended the first half on a 17-4 run to never be threatened again, leading 44-28 at the break.
The second half was more of the same. Once the lead was pushed to 20, it never went under that mark, and back-to-back NSU 3-pointers to end it provided the biggest margin of 39. The Sharks were even better from behind the arc in the second half (7-of-12, 58.3 percent) after going 50 percent (5-of-10) in the first 20 minutes.
Danielle Robinson (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) shook off a 1-of-6 start to make all of her final six baskets and lead all scorers with 19 points.
Taylor Buie (So., Puyallup, Wash.) was just behind with 18, on 6-of-9 shooting (and 4-of-5 on 3-pointers), while
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Jr., Miami) added 14 points and had team highs of six rebounds and four steals.
The last two Sharks in double digits came off the bench:
Alexis Murphy (So., Carlisle, Ohio) and
Ashley Robinson (Fr., Jensen Beach, Fla.), each contributing 10. Murphy made 2-of-3 from behind the arc and had five rebounds, while Ashley Robinson made 3-of-4 '3's and added her first career blocked shot. Just a point behind was
Richelle Carach (Sr., Naples, Fla.), with nine points and five rebounds.
Facilitating the efficient offense (55 percent overall shooting) was
Jessica Russi (Sr., Lake Mary, Fla.), who had nine assists in the first half on her way to a total of 13, against just four turnovers. It was the fifth time this season that the point guard had at least a dozen assists, and in the process on Wednesday, she broke the NSU single-season assist record (passing Abbie Tepe's 170 in 2010-11). Russi now has 181, with at least the team's five more regular season games to go.
"We played with a lot of energy tonight and moved the ball well," said head coach LeAnn Freeland. "It is always great to get contributions from everyone."
Lynn was led by Tifani Kerrison and Nina Guillaume with 13 points each, while the latter had a game-high nine rebounds. Point guard Shatorria Baker had nine points, but was just 3-of-14 from the field, and the Sharks held the two leading scorers for the team coming in to six combined points: Zachara Bailey (four) and Sharneka McCatty (two).
The Sharks remain a half-game ahead of Tampa (17-5, 10-2 SSC) in the conference standings. They travel to Winter Park, Fla., this Saturday, to take on the third-place Rollins Tars (20-4, 9-3 SSC) at 2 p.m., while UT takes on these same Lynn Fighting Knights, also on the road, in Boca Raton.
"The team was focused and ready," said Freeland. "This win gives us good momentum as we head to Rollins for an important game this weekend."
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