Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team gave up a 14-point second half lead, but won on a
Jessica Valley layup with 0.7 seconds left, staving off Barry's comeback attempt Saturday afternoon at the NSU Arena, 57-55.
With 14:16 to go, the Sharks (18-5, 10-3 SSC) led the Buccaneers (11-13, 3-9 SSC) by the score of 43-29. Barry then went on an 11-4 run to make it a one-possession game at the 7:00 mark (47-44) on a 3-pointer by Amra Elezovic.
Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) immediately drained a '3' of her own, which would turn out to be the only successful shot from behind the arc in the half for the team in 11 attempts. That pushed the lead to 50-44 with 6:06 left, but Barry scored nine of the game's next 11 points for their first lead since 10-9 at 13:11 in the first half.
Now trailing 53-52 with 2:20 to go, the Sharks'
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) stepped up and responded, driving the lane for a clutch old-fashioned three-point play, pushing the home team back ahead 55-53 at 2:04. However, Elezovic would tie it up on the next Barry possession with a jumper at 1:49.
The next three combined possessions came up empty, with NSU missing two shots sandwiched around an unsuccessful attempt by Barry. The Bucs took the ball back with the game tied and about 33 seconds left, and at that point, the Sharks had four fouls to give before Barry would shoot free throws. NSU spaced out two fouls to drain the clock to under 10 seconds and force Barry to inbound the ball.
The Bucs got it in and worked it to Elezovic, who drove to the free throw line and looked to shoot, but instead had the ball ripped away by
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami). Wilkins pushed the ball ahead to a streaking Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.), who outraced the defense down the floor and put it in just before the final horn. Barry was unable to get a shot off before time ran out to give NSU the hard-fought two-point win.
With the victory, the Sharks gained a game on league-leading Rollins, who lost on Saturday at home to Eckerd, 61-58. NSU, at 10-3, now trails by just one-half game to the 10-2 Tars, and they host that squad this upcoming Wednesday for Senior Night at the NSU Arena. Tipoff is 5:30, with pregame ceremonies honoring Robinson and Wilkins beforehand.
Wilkins led all scorers Saturday with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and fell just one rebound shy of her second straight double-double with nine. The steal that led to the Valley's game-winning bucket was her third and it gave Valley 12 points, while Robinson also scored a dozen, including the 200th, 201st and 202nd 3-point baskets of her Shark career. She became just the second NSU player in history, male or female, to break that milestone.
Elezovic scored 11 of her team-high 16 for Barry in the second half. Jackie Perez added 11 points.
