FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After back-to-back road losses, the Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team were glad to return to the friendly confines of their home court, defeating the Saint Leo Lions 64-44 at the Rick Case Arena on Saturday afternoon.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: W, 64-44
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern (9-6, 5-4 SSC), Saint Leo Lions (7-10, 2-7 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
1ST QUARTER | Neither team started the game particularly sharp offensively. The Sharks hit their first bucket, a 3-pointer by Alison Hughes, over two and a half minutes in, and at the media timeout halfway through, the score was tied 6-all. The Lions scored seven in a row out of the timeout before a layup by Taylor Smith ended the opening frame with the Sharks trailing 13-8.
 
2ND QUARTER | The Sharks quickly found their stroke out of the gate in the second quarter, however. Within two minutes, they had taken the lead, with Maria Bardeeva scoring the last seven points of a 10-2 run, while the defense held the Lions without a field goal for the first three minutes. Saint Leo responded with five of their own, though, not allowing the Sharks to score for nearly three minutes themselves. Facing a two-point deficit, the Sharks used another extended run – 10-3 this time, for nearly the entire final five minutes of the half – as they made the game's final lead change and entered the locker room with a 28-23 advantage.
 
3RD QUARTER | Recapturing the spark they had to start the second quarter and taking it even further out of halftime, the Sharks opened the second half on an incredible 17-0 run, making seven straight field goals and eight of their first nine total. Meanwhile, the defense stepped up in a big way, as well, as the Lions didn't score until the 4:14 mark of the quarter, missing six field goals and two free throws during that time, while committing four turnovers. Despite missing their final six attempts of the quarter, the Sharks still entered the final period up by 19 (46-27), with Saint Leo scoring just four points the entire quarter.
 
4TH QUARTER | The lead hovered around the 20-point mark for the last ten minutes. Despite hitting just six of their previous 34 field goal attempts (.176) and 2-of-11 3-point attempts for the game (.182), the Lions hit six field goals in a row, of which three were from 3-point range, during a 3-minute span that started at the 6:50 mark. The Sharks, however, responded with a field goal of their own on all but one of those, limiting any potential damage the Lions could do by cutting into the lead, so that by the time they missed again, the Sharks still led by 19 with two minutes and change left to play.
 
INSIDE THE STATS:

• Hughes and Bardeeva each shot 7-of-11 from the field, leading all other scorers with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Hughes also made five of her seven 3-point attempts and contributed across the board, with three rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.
• Hailey Conley made the first start of her collegiate career. The freshman only scored three points on a late 3-pointer, but accrued career highs with six rebounds, for a share of the team lead, and three assists in 24 turnover-less minutes.
• Christen Prasse had another all-around game, with eight points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
• The Sharks outscored the Lions 38-14 in the middle two quarters, shooting 16-27 (.593) from the field, while allowing their opponents just 5-24 (.208), with six turnovers in each quarter.

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• This was the Sharks' 11^th in a row in the series history, their 10^th in a row in conference play, and eighth in a row inside the Rick Case Arena.
• They improve to 31-5 all-time against Saint Leo, including 28-3 in the last 31 meetings and 15-1 in the last 16. The Sharks are also 24-3 in SSC games, 16-2 in their home arena and 13-1 under Head Coach LeAnn Freeland-Curry.

 
UP NEXT
 
The Sharks will go back on the road, meeting fellow South Florida foes Palm Beach Atlantic at the Rubin Arena in West Palm Beach on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
 
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Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_WBasketball.