Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The No. 14 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team held off Eckerd on the road, picking up their first Sunshine State Conference win on Saturday by the score of 77-71.
The Sharks (9-2, 1-1 SSC) had a 17-point second half lead, as they were up 58-41 12:52 to go. Over the next 1:42, Eckerd (9-3, 0-2 SSC) went on an 11-2 run to cut it to single digits after back-to-back 3-pointers by Rana Thomas.
Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) answered with a '3' of her own to push the lead back out to 10, but the homestanding Tritons didn't go away. They cut it to four on three separate occasions (4:52, 2:59 and 1:58), and after two Thomas free throws, actually made it a two-point game with 1:33 left.
After a Shark missed basket, the home team had possession with a chance to tie or take the lead, but
Molly Blomer (Jr., West Chester, Ohio) drew a clutch offensive foul on EC's Trine Kasemagi at 50.7 seconds left. The ensuing possession was a contested driving layin in traffic by Robinson at 36.4 to push the Sharks back out by four, and they kept Eckerd off the board the remainder of the game to clinch the win.
"Both teams played a great game," said head coach LeAnn Freeland. "Our teams are similar in a lot of ways, and we knew it was going to be close. Our players did a great job maintaining composure after we lost a big lead in the second half to finish the game together."
Robinson led NSU with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including three 3-pointers.
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) had 14 points, 10 coming in the second half, and
Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) was just one assist shy of a triple-double, with 10 points and career bests of 12 rebounds and nine assists.
Alexis Murphy (Jr., Carlisle, Ohio) added 10 points as well, while
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) had eight points, four rebounds, four assists (no turnovers) and four steals.
Thomas led all scorers with 24 points, while teammate Ivana Grbic added 18 in the loss.
The Sharks will stay on the road and next be in Boca Raton to take on Lynn, Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
