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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 10 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team takes a 7-0 league mark to Tampa, hitting the halfway mark of the Sunshine State Conference schedule with a
Wednesday night tilt against the Spartans at 5:30 p.m. The two teams resume a rivalry that has seen the Sharks (15-1, 7-0 SSC) go 8-3 against the Spartans (9-8, 3-4 SSC) the last four years. After Tampa won in Fort Lauderdale to start the SSC slate last season, 76-75, the Sharks avenged with wins both at Tampa (55-53) and in the semifinal round of the SSC Championship (67-40).
With an overtime victory Saturday over Florida Southern, NSU's consecutive win streaks of 10 (overall), 12 (against SSC foes in the regular season) and 16 (against SSC including the postseason) continued. Tampa has recently put together a small streak of their own, three in a row against league competition after starting the season 0-4. They have topped Barry, Lynn and Saint Leo, with a loss against provisional member Palm Beach Atlantic coming just before the most recent Saint Leo win.
Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.) is the Shark team leader in points at 15.4, and is second in the league and 18th in DII in field goal percentage, shooting 57 percent.
Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) is next in scoring at 13.7, sixth among SSC players, and is third in 3-point percentage, making 42.2 percent of her shots from long range.
Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) moved into third on the team in scoring at 10.7 per game while earning SSC Player of the Week honors, and is just behind Buie in 3-point percentage, fourth in the conference, at 41.7. That duo each makes 2.5 per game, tying for third in the league. Last but not least,
Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) scores 10.1 a night, and is 11th or better in the conference in five different categories: assists (first), free throw percentage (fifth), blocked shots (seventh), steals (ninth) and rebounding (11th).
Tampa returns Juliana Cavallaro, who was named First Team All-SSC and Second Team All-Region by Daktronics a year ago. She is the team's top scorer at 13.9, putting her fifth, right between Wright and Buie in the SSC. She also paces the Spartans in free throw and 3-point percentage, and 3-pointers per game.
The matchup will pit the conference's top offense (NSU at 77.3 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting) against the top defense (UT, only giving up 58.9 per at a league-low 35.6 percent). Tampa is also very efficient with the basketball, only committing 13.5 turnovers a contest to lead the league. Other top SSC marks as a team for the Sharks are assists and assist/turnover ratio and scoring margin.
