Box Score WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The No. 20 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team was upset on Wednesday night by out-of-conference foe Palm Beach Atlantic, 66-60.
The Sharks (12-4) led by as many as nine in the second half, but couldn't put away the Sailfish (6-14), who had fallen in eight straight games coming in, six to SSC opponents. The last such margin was with 8:43 to go, with NSU up 52-43.
PBA hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut it to three, 52-49, at the 6:46 mark. They further cut into the lead on a Mallory Motycka jumper at 4:09 to make it a one-point game.
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) answered with a layup, but the Sailfish took their first lead of the second half on consecutive layups and never trailed again.
There was one more tie, for the sixth and final time at 2:10, on a 1-of-2 trip to the line by
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) to make it 55-55. But that was answered immediately as Irina Krstic buried a '3' to put the Sailfish back up.
Kayla Wright (So., Lauderhill, Fla.), who had a dominant second half, cut it to one again on a layup, but the Sailfish scored the next four. Trailing 62-57,
Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was able to come through with a '3' with 12.6 to go, again making it a one-point deficit. Taylor Buchanan then clinched it with two ensuing free throws, with Krstic providing the icing with two more at 0.2 seconds for the final score.
Robinson led all scorers with 17, with 11 of Wright's 15 coming after the break. Both shot well from the field, the former 6-of-9 and the latter going 7-of-10.
Alexis Murphy (Jr., Carlisle, Ohio) added nine points and seven rebounds.
Though the Sharks outrebounded PBA 46-43 and shot nearly the same percentage (37.7 percent to 39.7 percent), they left 15 points at the line on Wednesday night, going 10-of-25.
Krstic led a balanced scoring attack by PBA with 14, followed by 12 from Nkiru Anyagaligbo and 11 from Janelle Cannon. Ayanna Holmes had nine points and 11 rebounds for the victorious Sailfish, their first in the series since Feb. 7, 2009, snapping a seven-game losing streak against NSU.
The Sharks next play No. 9 Florida Tech, who fell for the first time this season on Wednesday night, 72-65 at home to No. 14 Rollins. The now 15-1 Panthers, 5-1 in conference, will tip off against the Sharks at 2 p.m. from the NSU Arena this Saturday afternoon.
