FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women's basketball team begins play at the Elite Eight in Erie, Penn., this upcoming Tuesday, March 25, at 2:30 p.m., against the Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears.
The back-to-back South Region Champion Sharks (28-4), already having set the program record for wins in a season, looks to eclipse last year's end mark of the Elite Eight round with a win in Tuesday's game. To do so, they will have to top a Concordia squad that is unranked, just as NSU was a year ago. The Golden Bears (28-8), winners of the Great American Conference Tournament, have already shown the propensity for knocking off higher-ranked foes, as they did in the GAC finals against No. 19 Northern State, and then three more times to sweep through the Central Region.
Concordia, as the seventh seed in the Central, had arguably their toughest test in the opening round, facing No. 2-seeded Harding. Not only were the Bisons 29-2, they were ranked No. 2 in the nation in the USA Today Coaches' poll and were the host school for the region. Against all those odds, the Golden Bears prevailed, 68-57.
In the semifinals, it wasn't much easier, as the squad would go up against third-seeded Central Missouri (26-4 and No. 8 in the nation). But the score was even more of a rout in Concordia's favor, 85-60 in this case. Then on Monday, the Golden Bears tangled with the region's top seed, and No. 7 team in the poll, Emporia State (30-3). Even though they would have as much as an 18-point lead, this would end up being their closest affair, coming down the final shot in a 70-67 win.
Concordia is led by Great American Conference Player of the Year (and Second Team All-Central Region honoree) Anika Whiting, the team's leader in scoring, rebounding and field goal and free throw percentage. She is one of four Golden Bears averaging double digits for coach Paul Fessler, in his 14th season atop the program. He achieved both his 300th win at the school and 400th win overall during the team's current nine-game winning streak.
As a team, the Golden Bears are both great defensively and at taking care of the ball. They rank second in the country in turnovers per game, committing only 11.2 a night. They hold their opponents to 61.9 points per (37th in the nation), at a field goal percentage of 35.5 (13th best). They also block 5.4 shots per game, the sixth-best mark, led by Kionda Hicks at 2.7, the 11th-highest individual ranking.
NSU continues to be among the most prolific and efficient offenses in the country, with the following national rankings: assists (second, 19.1, just one-tenth behind West Texas A&M); 3-pointers made (third, 9.0), field goal percentage (seventh, 46.7), scoring margin (ninth, +15.0), scoring offense (11th, 80.2), assist/turnover ratio (18th, +1.12) and 3-point percentage (27th, 36.0). They also hold opposing outside shooters to just 27.1 percent from behind the arc, 22nd best in DII.
Besides Hicks, the top individually-ranking Golden Bears nationally are Rachel Hansen, 18th in assist/turnover ratio (2.07) and 37th in assists (4.7); Carissa Wolyniec, 20th in 3-pointers per game (2.69) and 37th in 3-point percentage (40.1); and Whiting, 50th in scoring (17.8).
For the Sharks,
Jessica Russi (Sr., Lake Mary, Fla.) continues to lead the nation in assists (8.2) and is just behind Hansen at 21st in assist/turnover ratio (2.03).
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Jr., Miami) is seventh in field goal percentage (59.2), and
Taylor Buie (So., Puyallup, Wash.) is eighth in 3-point percentage (44.1) and 15th in 3-pointers per game (2.8).
Buie, named South Region Tournament Most Outstanding Player after being the SSC Tournament MVP, leads the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game. Wilkins is at 13.1 with a team-high 7.1 rebounds per night, while also in double digits in points are
Richelle Carach (Sr., Naples, Fla.), at 12.5 (on 63.3 percent shooting), and
Danielle Robinson (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at 12.1.
Should the Sharks advance past Concordia, their next contest would be against the winner of No. 5 West Texas A&M (30-2), the top seed and winners of the South Central Region, and unranked Limestone (27-5), seventh seed out of the Southeast Region. Both Final Four games are on Wednesday, March 26, with this matchup tipping off at 6 p.m. from Erie.
The 2014 DII National Championship will take place Friday, March 28, at 7 p.m. All games during the Elite Eight will be webstreamed on NCAA.com, with Tuesday's game
here, and there will be audio streaming for all Sharks' games
here. Both of the last two rounds will be televised live on CBS Sports Network (channel listings: DirecTV 221, Dish TV 158, Comcast 854, Time Warner 1322).
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.
