FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Mere seconds away from completing an impressive come-from-behind victory, the Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team fell victim to a heartbreaker at the hands of Lynn University on Wednesday evening at the Rick Case Arena.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: L, 66-67
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern (9-9, 5-7 SSC), Lynn Fighting Knights (9-10, 5-7 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
1ST QUARTER | The Knights started with a 6-0 lead early before a 9-1 Sharks run, punctuated by a Cheray Saunders 3-pointer, gave the Sharks their first lead of the game, 11-9. Lynn evened up the score with a Janay Williams layup, tying it at 11-all at the end of the first.
 
2ND QUARTER | The Sharks got a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from Christen Prasse early, but then proceeded to miss their next ten field goals, including six layups and three 3-pointers. Hailey Conley finally ended the 7:42 field goal drought with a late 3-pointer that cut a temporary double-digit deficit back down to eight points, 29-21, at halftime.
 
3RD QUARTER | The Sharks came out of the break hungry, using six points in a row to get within three at the 6:17 mark before another 3-pointer for Prasse tied the game at 35 with just under four minutes left in the quarter. However, the Knights then reeled off eight straight of their own until Prasse hit a layup with 45 seconds to go to bring the score to 43-37 going into the final frame.
 
4TH QUARTER | The offense exploded to start the last period, needing just over two minutes to tie the game on back-to-back treys by Prasse and Alison Hughes. Hughes kicked off a streak of eight consecutive buckets by the Sharks, including three more from long distance. In response, Lynn hit on six of their eight attempts, including five in a row, during the Sharks' six minutes between misses, limiting how much NSU was able to capitalize. The Sharks led by as many as five with three minutes left, but the Knights tied it at 64 on a 3-pointer by Paola Vasquez with 1:23 to go. Vasquez made just one of four free throws in the game's final minute to give the Sharks 15 seconds to hit a potential game-winner, which is exactly what happened when Prasse found Saunders for a layup with seven seconds remaining. The Knights inbounded the ball, and after being unable to penetrate the Sharks defense for a layup, Vasquez attempted a baseline jumper, which found net as the final buzzer expired.
 
INSIDE THE STATS: 

• Prasse scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the second half on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, a good recovery from a 1-for-6 first half. She also had a game-high eight rebounds, dished out five assists without committing a turnover and snagged two steals.
• Prasse was joined in double figures by Hughes, who poured in 11 of her 16 in the Sharks' monster 29-point fourth quarter on 4-of-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from downtown, in addition to a season-high six rebounds in the game.
• Saunders rounded out the Sharks with double-digit scoring outputs with 14 points to go along with five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
• Skyla Osceola led the team with six assists, also without turning the ball over.

 
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE: 

• The Sharks last lost to the Knights on January 18, 2012, which was Head Coach LeAnn Freeland-Curry's first game against the Knights, also at home.
• The Sharks shot just 6-of-34 (17.6%) from the field in the first half, including just 1-of-18 (5.6%) on 2-pointers. They were much better after halftime, making 17-of-31 field goal attempts (54.8%) and 11 of 17 (64.7%) from inside the 3-point line. In the fourth quarter alone, they made 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the field and 5-of-6 (83.3%) from long distance.

 
UP NEXT
 
The Sharks will go back on the road, making the long trip up to Tampa, Fla. on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. start time against the Spartans.
 
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Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_WBasketball.