ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – It took until the final moments, but the No. 11 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team held off Eckerd on Wednesday night at the McArthur Center, staying flawless in Sunshine State Conference play with a 64-63 victory.
 
The Sharks (13-1, 5-0 SSC) led the Tritons (7-4, 3-2 SSC) wire-to-wire throughout the first three quarters, and half of the final frame as well. The only tie was 2-2, and the game stayed close as the Shark lead was always only in single digits. Eckerd did not take their first lead of the game until with 4:40 to go in the game, on a Victoria Vine layup, making it 55-54.
 
Immediately, Shark forward Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) answered, burying her third 3-pointer of the night just 16 seconds later to put her squad back ahead 57-55. Eckerd's Sarah Ammons responded with a '3' of her own, but that would be the home team's final lead, with the Sharks scoring the game's next four points.
 
Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.) and Blomer each knocked down 1-of-2 free throws, and Wright came up with an offensive rebound on the latter miss and scored on a tough close-in shot with exactly three minutes left for a 61-58 advantage.
 
Eckerd was able to tie it once more, for the final time, with Vine scoring and drawing the foul as well. Her free throw knotted it up at 61-61 at 2:46. Once again it would be Wright and Blomer on the offensive end for NSU. The former hit a layup at 2:25, and after a Triton miss, the latter snagged the rebound and was fouled, again hitting 1-of-2 from the line at 1:54.
 
Once again, Vine would score for Eckerd, with 50 seconds left, and though the Triton defense would hold and gain them the final possession, a 3-point attempt by Vine wouldn't fall with under a second left, giving NSU the one-point road win.
 
Wright shot 11-of-13 from the field Wednesday night towards a 26-point effort. Ida Krogh (Sr., Aarhus, Denmark) had a perfect shooting night, 6-of-6 overall including a 3-pointer, as well as making both of her free throw attempts. She had 15 points and six rebounds. Blomer was the third Shark with 10-plus, 13, making 4-of-7 shots and 3-of-6 on 3's.
 
Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) and Alexis Murphy (Sr., Carlisle, Ohio) each had solid floor games, both pulling down six rebounds, and coming up with five and four assists respectively (each only committing a single turnover). Merritt also had three steals.
 
Vine scored 10 of Eckerd's 13 in the final quarter, towards a team-high 24, though that came on 21 shots. Center Ashley Folsom had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, but was held scoreless in the fourth.
 
The Sharks will be back in action in a week, traveling to nearby Miami Shores to take on Barry with an eight-game win streak on the line, next Wednesday at 5:30.