FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 11 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team scored six of the last eight points in overtime to win their 10th straight game, moving further ahead in first place in the Sunshine State Conference standings with an 81-79 win over Florida Southern on Saturday afternoon.
 
In front of a boisterous 724 fans and a national broadcast audience, the Sharks (15-1, 7-0 SSC) came out on all cylinders in the first half, making 9-of-14 3-pointers and 57.6 percent of their total shots. However, down 14, Florida Southern (14-2, 5-2 SSC) tightened up in the third quarter, forcing the Sharks to miss their first nine shots and only making 1-of-13 shots overall, outscoring them 20-4 to take the lead heading into the fourth.
 
The final frame saw four ties and three lead changes, with no leads greater than four on either side. With just under a minute left, Shark senior forward Molly Blomer (West Chester, Ohio) hit a huge 3-pointer to put her team up one, 70-69. The NSU defense turned away the next FSC shot attempt and Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) made 1-of-2 free throws on the other end. But then the Mocs' Shaquita Snow was fouled, made both of her attempts from the charity stripe to tie things up with 23 seconds left, and Buie's 3-pointer at the horn just rimmed out to necessitate extra time.
 
In overtime, again it was Blomer coming through in the clutch. With her team down two with 2:16 to go, she came up with an offensive rebound, and as part of that same possession, got open on the left wing as Buie found her for her sixth long-range bomb of the evening. Again, the Shark defense held FSC empty, and again Buie played the role of facilitator, with a perfect pass down low to Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.) for a layin and an NSU three-point lead (80-77, 1:44).
 
Florida Southern cut it to one about 30 seconds later, then each team had empty chances. A Snow layup attempt that would have given the visitors the lead rimmed out, with Ida Krogh (R-Sr., Aarhus, Denmark) corralling the rebound. She made the second of two free throws, and the Mocs' 3-point attempt at the horn was well short to preserve the Shark victory.
 
The NSU frontcourt of Wright and Blomer combined for 43 points, scoring 22 and 21, respectively. Wright made 10-of-19 shots to go along with seven rebounds; Blomer buried 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, with that number and her point total each notching new career highs, and she too had seven rebounds. Buie was next with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, and handed out four assists.
 
Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) flirted with a triple-double despite fouling out with 1:08 to go in regulation, scoring eight points, matching Blomer and Wright for the team lead with seven boards, and distributing six assists. Krogh and Sarah Kelly (Fr., Huntington, W.Va.) each scored seven, combining for six rebounds and six assists between them.
 
With one game to go before the halfway mark of the team's conference schedule, the 7-0 Sharks are two games ahead of both FSC and Florida Tech at 5-2. Saturday marked the 12th regular season win in a row over SSC opponents, 16 counting last year's postseason. Next up for the squad is Tampa (9-8, 3-4 SSC) this upcoming Wednesday night, on the road at 5:30 p.m.