FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 10 Nova Southeastern University women's team held off Embry-Riddle to win their seventh straight game and 12th of the season, 63-53, Saturday at the NSU Arena.
The Sharks (12-1) never trailed, and after starts of 7-0 and 14-2, were ahead by at least 10 or more the rest of the way. The biggest advantage was 23, just before the halftime break, and was 20 at intermission, 40-20.
Ida Krogh (R-Sr., Aarhus, Denmark) matched her career high and was in double digits for the third straight contest, scoring 16 on 5-of-10 shooting while going a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. She also had four rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
Sarah Kelly (Fr., Huntington, W. Va.) surpassed her career best with 14, all in the first half, making 4-of-5 shots from the field and 5-of-6 free throws. She also had four assists.
Coming up with a dozen points and a team-best eight rebounds was
Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.), while the senior duo of
Molly Blomer (West Chester, Ohio) and
Alexis Murphy (Carlisle, Ohio) each scored seven (both making 3-of-5 shots) and combined for eight boards.
Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) scored five, rebounded six and assisted three.
"We played a very poised and confident first half as a unit, and established an impressive 20-point lead," said head coach
LeAnn Freeland. "Embry-Riddle came out with much more intensity and won the second half. Moving forward, it is important that we play two halves with aggressive defensive intensity, which leads to easy opportunities on the offensive end."
In total, the Sharks outrebounded Embry-Riddle 40-37 and outshot them 40.7 percent to 32.8 percent. Five Sharks combined to go 17-of-19 for 89.5 percent, the team's highest mark this season. The Sharks overcame Saturday's effort by Sabrina Whiting, who scored more than half of her team's points with 27, matching the top output by an individual opponent this season.
Next up for NSU is a return to conference play on Wednesday, traveling to St. Petersburg to take on Eckerd for a 5:30 p.m. start.
