FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 14 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team, behind 25 points from Kayla Wright and a near triple-double by Monaye Merritt, avenged their only Sunshine State Conference loss to this point and won their 20th game of the year, turning away Tampa on Wednesday night, 75-63.
 
The Sharks (20-3, 12-1 SSC) and Spartans (13-10, 6-6 SSC) went blow-for-blow in the first half, with seven ties and 10 lead changes, not to mention equal shooting lines of 14-of-26. Coming out of the break tied at 35-35, NSU forced Tampa into missing their first seven shots and scored eight of the first 10 points for a quick 43-37 lead.
 
Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.) scored eight in the third and nine in the fourth as the lead ballooned to double digits. She ended the game 11-of-17 from the field and pulled down five rebounds. Merritt (Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) scored 12 and rebounded 10, adding nine assists to fall just one dime shy of what would have been only the second triple-double in women's history.
 
Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) added 10 points, while Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) made both of her 3-point attempts towards eight points, along with four rebounds and three assists. Another player heavy in the statsheet was Ida Krogh (R-Sr., Aarhus, Denmark), with six points, eight rebounds and four assists.
 
The Sharks leaned on more than just the usual suspects to the mix on Wednesday. Katie Barnard (R-So., Granger, Ind.) scored eight and had four rebounds, making all three of her shots including her first collegiate 3-pointer. Megan Piggott (Fr., Ponte Vedra, Fla.) also had her first-ever '3,' and fellow freshman Emily Stoicovy (Erie, Penn.) was the first Shark off the bench, playing a career-high 13 minutes.

"We had a great team effort in our win today," said head coach LeAnn Freeland. "The focus was evident on each possession, and we fought hard. Our staff is proud of the team's defensive effort."
 
After being held to a season-low 45 points in the loss earlier this year to Tampa, the Sharks turned it around and shot their second-highest mark Wednesday, at 55.1 percent. They healthily outrebounded their Spartan counterparts, 36-24, and handed out 21 assists to only nine turnovers, tying a season best. In the paint, they outscored UT 40-28, and had a 36-6 point advantage from their bench.

"Our team was very unselfish and distributed the bal well to find open teammates," said Freeland. "Kayla took care of business down low and provided a good inside/out game, and Monaye had one her best outings to be very close to a triple-double."
 
For the losing Spartans, Juliana Cavallaro led the way with 19 points, while Elena de Alfredo added 17.
 
NSU's 20-3 start to the year is second-best in school history, and 12-1 mark extends the best start to their conference schedule ever. They will be home again on Saturday, against their neighbors to the south, Barry. Tipoff from the NSU Arena will be at 2 p.m.