FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – For the fourth time this season, the Nova Southeastern women's basketball team will face Sunshine State Conference rival Tampa, but this time with the South Region Championship and a berth in the NCAA Elite Eight on the line, Monday night at 7 p.m. at the NSU Arena.
The No. 10 Sharks (27-4) and No. 17 Spartans (24-6), first and second seeds respectively in the region, met twice during the regular season, with UT taking both games on their way to the SSC regular season title. NSU gained some measure of revenge last Sunday, March 9, in the SSC Championship game, winning 64-55.
NSU is looking for back-to-back South Region titles, having gotten to this year's championship by virtue of wins over Benedict (75-61) and Albany State (96-69). Monday will be nearly a year to the day when the Sharks won the program's first region title in their first title game appearance, beating Delta State on March 18, 2013, 78-56.
This is Tampa's first-ever trip to the regional final. The Spartans' two wins to advance to the championship have come against West Florida (77-62) in the first round, and the No. 3 seed and another SSC rival in Rollins (75-57) in the region semis.
The teams feature the top six scorers in region play, among all eight teams that have competed. For the Spartans, Shamika Williams is first at 21.5 points, Ellen Nurmi slots third at 15.5 and Juliana Cavallaro is fifth at 13.0. For the Sharks,
Taylor Buie (So., Puyallup, Wash.) is second at 20 points even,
Danielle Robinson (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is fourth at 13.0 and
Richelle Carach (Sr., Naples, Fla.) is sixth at 12.5.
Williams nearly averages a double-double with 9.5 rebounds per game, sixth-best among all players in the tournament so far.
Amanda Burakoski (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) leads the Sharks at 8.0, and with 5.5 assists per game, is second only to teammate
Jessica Russi (Sr., Lake Mary, Fla.), who has 17 assists in NSU's two wins for an average of 8.5.
Among qualified players,
Julia Salmio (Sr., Vantaa, Finland) is first in field goal percentage (69.2) and second in 3-point percentage (60.0). Conversely, Williams of Tampa is second in the former category (61.9) and first in the latter (66.7). Nurmi is third in 3-point percentage at 58.3, and her seven 3-pointers made in two games trails only Williams' eight.
The winner of Monday's championship game moves on to Erie, Penn., for the NCAA DII Elite Eight. NSU or Tampa will take on the winner of the Central Region, either top-seeded Emporia State (30-3) or upset-minded Concordia-St. Paul, the region's seventh seed. The 27-8 Golden Bears have already knocked off No. 2 Harding (29-1 entering region play) and No. 3 Central Missouri (25-4), who were ranked second and eighth, respectively, in the final USA Today Coaches' Poll.
Live audio and video streaming of the South Region Championship will be available
HERE, while live stats will be
HERE just prior to tipoff.
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
clicking here.
