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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 11 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team looks for their fifth consecutive victory, and second straight in-conference win on the road, as they take on the Lynn Fighting Knights on Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Sharks (9-2, 1-1 SSC) also will be going for their sixth straight win over the Fighting Knights, their longest streak against an Sunshine State Conference opponent. Last season, they swept the home-and-home, winning 84-53 in Boca and 94-55 in Fort Lauderdale. Since their last loss this season, the Sharks defeated Shaw, Albany State and Fayetteville State at home, and then notched their first conference win last Saturday, topping Eckerd 77-71 in St. Petersburg.
Lynn (5-5, 0-2 SSC) suffered their second SSC loss on that same day, with Tampa defeating them 59-44. Earlier, they had fallen to Rollins, 69-52. In between was a 2-2 out-of-conference mark, including wins over Benedict and Palm Beach Atlantic just prior to the Tampa matchup.
With a near triple-double against Eckerd (10 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists),
Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) was rewarded with the most recent SSC Player of the Week.
Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had 19 points in the win, including three 3-pointers, putting her just three behind Eliza Allen for the NSU program record from behind the arc.
Near or at the top of the conference leaderboards are
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami), first in field goal percentage at 66.3 (which is also third in the NCAA), and tied for third in blocks at 1.5; Valley, fourth in rebounding at 7.3 and assists at 4.5; and
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) in three categories: first in steals (2.7), second in assists (5.0) and second in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).
The Sharks as a team are second in all the nation in field goal percentage (48.4) and is 10th in assists (18.0). Lynn brings a stiff defense to the table, ranking 28th nationally in blocked shots (4.4, led by Charla Nelson-James' 1.9 per, second-highest in the SSC), 32nd in 3-point defense (26.6), 36th in field goal defense (35.7) and 46th in scoring defense (59.8). They'll be matching up against the conference's second-highest (and nation's 40th-best) offense at 76.1 points per game.
