Sharks Community Day
Live NSU Video/Audio | Live Stats
Game Notes
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 6 Nova Southeastern women's basketball team faces its most crucial matchup of the regular season this Saturday, hosting Sunshine State Conference leader Tampa at the NSU Arena at 2 p.m.
The Sharks (21-2, 11-2 SSC) are a half-game behind the Spartans (19-5, 12-2 SSC), and fell in the two team's matchup this season on the road, 71-60. It was NSU's first loss of the season after a program-record 15 straight wins.
A win by NSU on Saturday would put them back into first place in the conference with two games to go. A win by Tampa gives them more of a cushion for the SSC's No. 1 seed with only one game remaining for them, and would also give the Spartans the tiebreaker with a season sweep over the Sharks. (Also factoring into the standings is Rollins, who still lurks just behind the two teams with an 11-3 SSC mark and faces Barry in Miami Shores on Saturday.)
Saturday's results will also have ramifications for the South Region rankings, which is used in the selection of the host for the first three rounds of NCAA Tournament play. NSU was slotted No. 1 in the first rankings, released Wednesday, followed by Rollins and then Tampa. Delta State of the Gulf South and the SIAC's Albany State round out the top five.
The Jan. 25 win over NSU came in the midst of Tampa's current 11-game winning streak, in which they've defeated their opponents by an average of 17.8 points a game. Their last defeat came at Florida Tech on Jan. 11, 72-62.
In their earlier contest, the Spartans led NSU by as many as 15 in the first half, and were still up 11 with 6:42 to go (50-39). A 14-5 stretch over the next four-plus minutes allowed the Sharks to cut the deficit to two, 55-53, with 2:26 remaining, but UT scored the next six and closed out the win with a 16-7 run.
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Jr., Miami) had a career game in the loss, going 11-of-14 from the field for a new best of 26 points. At one point in the first half, she scored 10 straight and 12 of 13 points for the Sharks. For Tampa, Illyssa Vivo led the way with 21 points (on 6-of-8 shooting), and Shamika Williams had a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Once again, the Sharks' vaunted offense will face one of the country's top defenses. Tampa ranks third in all of DII in scoring defense, only allowing 56.6 points per game. The Spartans also have a very efficient offense of their own, committing just 13.8 turnovers a contest, which leads the SSC and is 18th-best in the nation.
The Sharks have top-10 national rankings in six offensive categories: assists (first, 20.0), field goal percentage (third, 48.0), 3-pointers made per game (third, 9.5), scoring offense (fourth, 83.3), scoring margin (seventh, +18.3) and 3-point percentage (ninth, 38.2). They're also 12th in assist/turnover ratio, at +1.17.
Saturday will tip off at 2 p.m. for the women's game, and has been dubbed Sharks Community Day. All fans will receive free admission with Sharks gear, and free sandwiches will be provided by Jimmy John's. For more information on Sharks Community Day, visit
this page.
At game time Saturday, tune in for live audio/video streaming
at this link, and live stats
here.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by
clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
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