FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 14 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team continued to top the Sunshine State Conference standings as they defeated second place Florida Tech 71-64 on Wednesday night to add another game to their league lead.
 
After a 23-8 second quarter advantage, the Sharks (18-3, 10-1 SSC) nearly let a late lead in the third quarter slip away. Down 10 with 2:26 left, Florida Tech (14-6, 8-3 SSC) scored 10 straight of their own to tie things at 48-48, and then again at 50-50 at the 7:37 mark of the fourth. It was then NSU's turn to string together some points, eight in a row and eventually 16 of the next 22. It became once again a 10-point Shark lead at the end of run and just 1:29 left, 66-56.
 
Though FIT hit a couple of late 3-pointers and made it a four-point game with 15 seconds to go, the Sharks made their final three free throws for the final margin.
 
Five Sharks notched double-digit scoring efforts, paced by Kayla Wright's (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.) 14, on 6-of-9 shooting. Ida Krogh (R-Sr., Aarhus, Denmark) and Alexis Murphy (Sr., Carlisle, Ohio) both scored a dozen, with Murphy putting in eight straight for NSU during a stretch in the opening quarter.
 
Putting in 10 each were Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) and Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.), and the latter was just a rebound short of a double-double with a team-high nine. Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) scored all nine of her points in the second half, seven in the last quarter, and pulled down a new personal best of six boards. Sarah Kelly (Fr., Huntington, W.Va.) rounded out the Shark scoring with the remaining four, but filled up the stat sheet otherwise with career-high marks of eight rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots (each of the last two leading NSU).
 
The Sharks have now opened up a two-game lead on both FIT and Florida Southern, each 8-3 in SSC play. Next up, this upcoming Saturday, is a road matchup with NSU traveling to Winter Park, Florida, taking on Rollins. The Tars are 9-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play. Tip time is 2 p.m.