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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After a last-second victory at Tampa on Saturday extended their conference winning streak to four, the No. 24 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team returns home for another Sunshine State matchup, hosting Eckerd on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the NSU Arena.
 
The Sharks (15-4, 7-2 SSC) kept pace at the top of the Sunshine State Conference on Saturday as Monaye Merritt's (R-Jr., Philadelphia) layup with 1.5 seconds left pushed them past Tampa, 55-53. Both No. 14 Rollins (8-1) and fellow 7-2 squad Florida Tech, No. 19, also posted Saturday wins. The Sharks dropped Tampa to 5-4 and two games out of second place, with Eckerd (15-5, 5-4 SSC) moving down to that same mark with their 72-65 loss to FIT, the second consecutive in-conference defeat the Tritons have suffered.
 
Eckerd was 9-2 overall prior to their Jan. 3 game at home against these Sharks, a 77-71 NSU win. It was a two-point game with 1:33 to go, and the Tritons had possession with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Molly Blomer (Jr., West Chester, Ohio) drew a clutch offensive foul on EC's Trine Kasemagi at 50.7 seconds left. The ensuing possession was a contested driving layin in traffic by Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at 36.4 to push the Sharks back out by four, and they kept Eckerd off the board the remainder of the game to clinch the win.
 
Robinson led the Sharks in the game with 19, Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) added 14, and Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) was an assist shy of a triple-double, with 10 points and career bests of 12 rebounds and nine assists. That earned Valley NSU's first SSC Player of the Week award this season.
 
Based on her career-high 18 points in the win over Tampa, and a 12-point showing in the prior win over Saint Leo, NSU sophomore forward Kayla Wright (Lauderhill, Fla.) became the team's second and reigning SSC POW. She shot a combined 15-of-23 in the two victories, 65.2 percent, and is at 59 percent even on the season, 11th-best in the country. Wilkins is fourth nationally at 61.5 percent.
 
A stat category in the Sharks' favor during this conference winning streak has been points in the paint. On Saturday against Tampa, it was 38-18 NSU. The advantage versus Saint Leo was that exact same figure, and it 42-14 in their win over Florida Tech.
 
In the prior NSU-EC matchup, the Triton's Rana Thomas led all scorers with 24 points, while teammate Ivana Grbic added 18. This season, Thomas has earned two SSC POW awards and Grbic one as well. Thomas ranks second in the conference in scoring at 16.3 points and is first with an success rate of 88.2 percent from the free-throw line (28th in the country); Grbic is the team's top rebounder at 6.6.
 
Also for Eckerd, Kasemagi is the league's top freshman scorer at 12.9 per game and is their top shooter, 12th in the country, at 58.2 percent. Point guard Kayla Bowlin paces the SSC at 5.2 assists, which is 11th among DII players, and plays 36.0 minutes a game (second in the league).
 
Valley and Merritt are second and third in the conference in assists at 4.2 and 4.1. Merritt leads in steals with 2.6, which is 35th in the country, while Wilkins is tied for first at 1.5 blocks per contest. Also, Merritt's basket Saturday was the first last-second game-winner by NSU since Jan. 26, 2013, when a 3-pointer by Amanda Burakoski with 2.6 seconds left defeated Lynn on the road, 69-67.
 
As a team, Eckerd averages 69.2 points per game (third in the SSC) and gives up 58.2 (also third and 24th in the NCAA), for a margin of 11.0 (third as well). The Sharks are second in offense (73.4), fourth in defense (63.6) and fourth in margin (9.8). The teams are separated by one one-hundredth of a percent in shooting (Sharks at .469, fifth in the country, and Tritons sixth at .468), with Eckerd holding their opponents to the second-lowest percentage overall in the conference, and 19th in the country, at .357 (NSU is fifth in the SSC at .382). They are also the top two assist distributors, with NSU at 16.8 (17th nationally) to Eckerd's 16.4 (20th).

Both the Sharks and Florida Tech have the opportunity to gain a half-game on Rollins in the conference standings Wednesday, as the Tars are out-of-conference, hosting Palm Beach Atlantic. FIT is also on their home floor, against 2-7 Saint Leo.