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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team looks for their 10th Sunshine State Conference victory of the season when they host Barry on Saturday at the NSU Arena.
 
The Sharks (17-5, 9-3 SSC) tip off against Barry (11-12, 3-8 SSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, looking to get into double digits in conference wins for the third straight season. They are also looking for a season sweep of the Bucs after defeating them less than a month ago, 76-68, in Miami Shores.
 
NSU led for the vast majority of that game, though Barry cut it to four with a little over a minute left. The Sharks prevailed by hitting four free throws for all of the remaining scoring. Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) led the way for the visitors with 17 points and eight rebounds. Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had 15 points while Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) added 14.
 
Kaylia Richardson scored Barry's first 12 points and, at that time, had the high mark for scoring by an NSU opposing player this year with 26. Antonia Neibler added four 3-pointers for 12 for the Bucs.
 
Through 16 games, Richardson leads Barry with 11.9 points per game at a nearly 52 percent clip, as well as with 7.5 rebounds, and point guard Jackie Perez is at 10.7 points as well as posting team highs of 3.7 assists (fifth in the conference), 1.7 steals (seventh) and 2.4 made 3-pointers (third). Neibler has been one of the SSC's top sharpshooters, making 46 percent of her long-range shots to rank second.
 
Barry fell to the league-leading Rollins on Wednesday by the score of 56-45. That loss dropped them under .500 for the first time this season, and they have dropped seven of their last nine conference games. This will be the sixth game the team has played in the NSU Arena this year, having taken part in three early-season showcases and going 3-2, beating Shorter, Stillman and Fayetteville State and losing to Union and Albany State.
 
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) had one of the best games of her four-year career in NSU's Wednesday win over Lynn, 82-59. She made 11 of her first 13 shots (and 12-of-16 overall) to match her top scoring game ever of 26 points. Additionally, she had 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the year.
 
Not to be outdone, Valley posted her fourth double-double this season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and tied teammates Merritt and Alexis Murphy (Jr., Carlisle, Ohio) for the team's best of six assists. That tallied 18 of the team's 27, the high mark of the season coming on 87 percent of their made shots (31).
 
Murphy made five 3-pointers, her career best, and matched her three-year high of 15 points. Her six assists came against zero turnovers. The Sharks had a nearly 2-to-1 assist/turnover ratio, at 27 to 14, and notched an exact doubling up of the Fighting Knights on points-in-the-paint, 44-22.
 
Wilkins' field goal percentage on the season now has increased to 62.8 percent, trailing only Kentucky State's Shaquanda Wiggins at 64.5 and Shareta Brown of Wayne State (Mich.) at 64.0. Teammate Kayla Wright (So., Lauderhill, Fla.) is 10th in the nation, and she and Wilkins and third and first in the conference respectively. The Sharks as a team are eighth in the nationin shooting (46.3 percent, second in the SSC only behind Eckerd at 46.5).
 
Currently, 10-1 Rollins continues to hold a two-game lead over the 9-3 Sharks in the loss column, and on Saturday, the Tars host 7-5 Eckerd. Florida Tech is 8-3 and is a half-game behind NSU. They will also be at home on Saturday, taking on 5-6 Florida Southern. The other conference matchup features 2-10 Saint Leo at 1-11 Lynn. All four games tip off at 2 p.m. from their respective venues.