Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team took sole possession of first place in the Sunshine State Conference standings, leapfrogging No. 17 Rollins as they topped the Tars on Senior Night Wednesday at the NSU Arena, 65-57.
The Sharks (19-5, 11-3 SSC) overcame their only second-half deficit with an early 10-0 run, holding Rollins (19-4, 10-3 SSC) scoreless for 5:32 of game time, and later, when the Tars tied it up with 4:46 to go, outscored the visitors 13-5 to end the game and gain the victory.
Two Rollins free throws made it 52-52 at that 4:46 mark. The Sharks would then score seven in a row, concluding with a 3-pointer by
Alexis Murphy (Jr., Carlisle, Ohio) at 1:49 to make it 59-52. Again the Tars would sink two from the charity stripe, and again, the Sharks came through with a long-range bomb, this one from
Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) with exactly 1:00 left. That made the score 62-54, and though Rollins' Julia Ingler would hit a '3' on the subsequent possession, the Sharks would clamp down on their defense and hit enough free throws to come away with an eight-point win.
All told, the NSU defense held Rollins to 23.3 percent shooting after the break, 7-of-30, and 1-of-8 shooting to close out the game. The Sharks had 12 steals, forced 18 Tar turnovers and outscored them 18-7 off those, as well as 33-24 in the paint.
On their Senior Night,
Jasmine Wilkins (Miami) and
Danielle Robinson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led the way for the Sharks. Wilkins had 21 points on twin shooting lines of 7-of-11 from the field and from the free throw line, while also adding six rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Robinson tallied nine of her total of 12 points in the first half, and also notched six rebounds, two steals, and a key blocked shot as Rollins tried to make it a one-possession game with 37 seconds left.
Also in double digits were Murphy and Valley, each with 10. Murphy made three 3-point goals after the break, while Valley had five points in each frame along with five total rebounds.
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) filled up the stat sheet Wednesday with six points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Rollins had four in double digits led by Ingler's 13. Ashley Losch had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Sharks have two games left to go, each on the road, and with wins in each, can do no worse than a tie for first place in the SSC. They face a tough test Saturday against No. 20 Florida Tech, who will come into the game looking to rebound from a loss on that very same floor, 86-77 to Barry on Wednesday night. Tipoff from Melbourne is 2 p.m. Saturday.
