MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The No. 11 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team continued their winning ways and remained undefeated in league play with a 73-65 Wednesday night win over Barry.
The Sharks (14-1, 6-0 SSC), with four in double digits with another just a point shy, took the lead for good with an early third-quarter run over the Buccaneers (10-5, 3-3 SSC). NSU was up five at the halftime break, 36-31, before giving up the lead – but only momentarily – after Barry started the second half with a 9-2 stretch.
It was 10 straight for the Sharks that gave them an advantage they wouldn't surrender.
Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) started the proceedings with a short jumper, followed by an
Alexis Murphy (Sr., Carlisle, Ohio) 3-pointer, and then a nice backdoor pass from Merritt to
Katie Barnard (R-So., Granger, Ind.), leading to an easy lay-in. Similarly,
Ida Krogh (R-Sr., Aarhus, Denmark) then found a cutting
Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) for a layup on the next possession, with Merritt capping the run with 1-of-2 free throws.
Barry was scoreless for 3:26 during that stretch, and never got it back to within a one-possession game.
Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.) came alive for NSU in the second half, going 4-of-6 from the field for 10 of her team-high 17 points. Merritt was 6-of-11 for 14 points, with both of those two Sharks snagging six rebounds. Murphy was next with 11 points, including three 3-pointers, while
Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) had 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Krogh added nine points to fall just short of her fifth straight double-digit scoring effort.
"We played very hard for 40 minutes to pull out the win," said head coach
LeAnn Freeland. "The game was back and forth throughout; we felt good about our composure to pull ahead and maintain the lead through Barry's runs. Our staff was impressed by our focus on the defensive end to execute the game plan."
The Sharks shot 47.4 percent overall to Barry's 35.6 mark, and though the Bucs made nine 3-pointers, it came in 24 attempts. Amra Elezovic had 20 and Ines Kerin 19 in the losing effort for the home team. NSU held advantages in bench points (18-11), points in the paint (34-26) and fast break points (10-0).
NSU will put their nine-game win streak on the line this Saturday in the ESPN3 DII National Broadcast of the Week, at the NSU Arena. The women face Florida Southern at 2 p.m., while the Shark men play the Mocs as well, beginning at 4.
