DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At the hands of the Embry-Riddle Eagles, the Nova Southeastern women's basketball team's 2017-18 season came to an end on Wednesday evening after falling 90-84 in a Sunshine State Conference quarterfinal held in the ICI Center.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: L, 84-90
RECORDS: Embry-Riddle Eagles (22-6), Nova Southeastern Sharks (13-14)
LOCATION: ICI Center | Daytona Beach, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1ST QUARTER | The Sharks started strong, jumping out to a 7-2 advantage, before the Eagles started to chip away at their lead. At the 6:27 mark, ERAU used a layup by Nicole Tucker to steal it, 8-7. The two teams traded the lead four times before at the 2:22 mark, Embry-Riddle took back the edge, and held on to it throughout the remainder of the quarter.
2ND QUARTER | Unlike the first quarter, the second was all Sharks, as the visitors on the scoreboard outscored the hosts, 25-13, to take a six-point advantage into the break. Down by eight with 6:55 remaining in the quarter, NSU took advantage of a 7-0 lead, including five consecutive points by
Alison Hughes, to cut the deficit to just one, 35-34. ERAU managed to pull away to keep the edge on their side, but back-to-back layups by
Amanda Tivenius put NSU on top, 43-41, with 2:36 to go. NSU went on to outscore the Eagles, 6-0, to take their 47-41 lead into halftime.
3RD QUARTER | Back-to-back three-pointers by Embry-Riddle quickly knotted the score, 47-47, before a layup by Hughes put the advantage back on NSU's side. After three lead changes, the Eagles were able to hold the edge throughout the rest of the quarter. A foul on
Skyla Osceola's attempt from deep at the buzzer sent the freshman to the line, where she sank all three free throws, bringing the Sharks within one, 63-63 with one quarter remaining.
4TH QUARTER | Within the first 3:30, the Eagles jumped back out to a six-point lead, 70-64, before a layup by
Christen Prasse and a trey by Hughes propelled the Sharks to get within one, 70-69. A layup by
Taylor Smith gave NSU the advantage, 71-70, but that would be the last time the Sharks were on top as the Eagles took the lead back 12 seconds later and never looked back. A jumper by Tivenius at the 1:31 mark brought the score to 80-78, but a 6-0 run over the next minute by ERAU sealed NSU's fate, and eventually fell, 90-84.
INSIDE THE STATS:
- Hughes led all Sharks with her 19 points, shooting 6-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from long distance. She was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the line.
- Prasse was next, tallying 17 points, adding two steals, while Hailey Conley had 15 points with three assists and two boards.
- Smith and Tivenius rounded out the five Sharks in double-digit scoring, posting 12 and 11 points, respectively. Smith also brought down four rebounds and had two steals.
- Mikayla Thompson led the team with her five rebounds, and Osceola had four boards with eight points.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Sharks' 47 points at halftime were their second-most scored this season. The most came from their 85-59 win over Shaw on Dec. 19, where they had 51 at the break.
- Nova Southeastern was 61.7 percent from the field (29-of-47), which was their best shooting performance of the season.
- NSU's 90.0 percent (20-of-22) from the line was their third-best effort this season.
- With the loss, NSU ends their 2017-18 season with a 13-14 overall record, and 9-11 in SSC play.
- Embry-Riddle's win was the institution's first NCAA postseason victory in school history.
SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_WBasketball.
