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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 3 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team returns home for a Friday afternoon clash with Washburn, their first of two games over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Sharks (5-0, 3-0 SSC), who moved up a slot to No. 3 in Tuesday's USA Today Coaches' Poll and are fourth in the DII Media Poll sponsored by D2SIDA, stayed undefeated after another Sunshine State Conference win on Tuesday night. They overwhelmed Florida Tech with a nearly-flawless final period to surmount deficits of 15 (with 2:00 left in the third) and 12 (entering the fourth) and win 75-73.
Leading the comeback was
Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.), who had 10 points in the fourth and a total of 26 for a new collegiate best, while
Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) scored eight in the same frame.
Monaye Merritt flirted with a triple-double with 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists, with five of those coming in the fourth and four on baskets by Wright.
The win marked the third straight against conference foes, making the Sharks the only 3-0 team in SSC play thus far. They now have three consecutive out-of-conference matchups on their slate, first hosting Washburn from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association on Friday.
The Ichabods are 3-1 to start the year, with their only loss coming to No. 8 Drury. This will be the second time in three seasons that the Topeka, Kansas school has traveled to Fort Lauderdale, as they took part in the 2013 NSU Tipoff Classic, the season opener that year for both teams. The Sharks were ranked No. 4 and the Ichabods No. 22 prior to that affair, and the game lived up to expectations in a 90-87 NSU victory.
There are only a handful players remaining on each team's roster that appeared in that game:
Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio), Buie and
Alexis Murphy (Sr., Carlisle, Ohio), who combined for 16 points for the Sharks; and Washburn's Jharian Bowen and Haley Pfau, the latter of which scored seven in the loss.
Tipoff is 2 p.m. from the NSU Arena. The Sharks will head from Fort Lauderdale to Valdosta, Georgia, to wrap up the holiday weekend on Sunday, with more details previewing that game here on NSUSharks.com in the coming days.
