Box Score
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The No. 10 Nova Southeastern women's basketball team won their second-ever Sunshine State Conference tournament title by knocking off top-seeded and No. 17 Tampa on Sunday evening at the Silver Spurs Arena, 64-55.
With the win, and the announcement at 10 p.m. Sunday night on NCAA.com, the Sharks (25-4) earned the No. 1 seed and will host the NCAA South Region at the NSU Arena for the second straight season. Their opponent this Friday, March 14, will be No. 8 seed Benedict, with tipoff at 5 p.m.
NSU built an 11-point halftime lead (37-26) by shooting 56 percent from the field. After the break, a
Danielle Robinson (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 3-pointer ballooned the advantage to 14, and she answered a Tampa (22-6) '3' with another one to keep it at that margin. She scored the first eight in the second half for NSU.
Tampa would go on a 13-2 run to make it a three-point game, 47-44, with 11:49 left. Back-to-back baskets by
Richelle Carach (Sr., Naples, Fla.) pushed it back out to seven, and though UT would later cut it to four, Carach would hit a lay-in followed by five straight by
Taylor Buie (So., Puyallup, Wash.) for an 11-point lead at 3:54.
From there, the closest the Spartans would get was six, 58-52 with 2:50 to go. An
Amanda Burakoski (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) offensive rebound and putback, and later, two free throws, made it 10 again, and
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Jr., Miami) enthusiastically closed out the scoring with two free throws with 37 seconds left.
"Our team followed the gameplan very well and fought hard for 40 minutes," said head coach LeAnn Freeland. "Everyone contributed throughout the tournament to bring home the title. Whether it was hitting a '3,' communicating loudly and encouraging from the bench, or tipping a rebound to a teammate, every play had a significant impact."
The title game victory is just the second in program history, following the 2007-08 team. With the 3-0 run at the tournament, the Sharks now have 25 victories on the season, a new record, bettering that same squad by one win.
Buie, the SSC Tournament MVP, led the Sharks with 15 points. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team were Robinson, who had 14 including three 3-pointers, and Burakoski, who added 12 points and six rebounds. Carach was also in double digits with 13, on 6-of-9 shooting, and led NSU on Sunday with seven rebounds.
Tampa was led by Aisha Rodney off the bench with 13 points. Ellen Nurmi added 10.
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