FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women's basketball team lost a heart-breaker to the Eckerd Tritons on Wednesday evening at the Rick Case Arena by a score of 59-56.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: L, 56-59
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern University Sharks (7-7, 3-3 SSC), Eckerd (9-4, 4-2 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
1ST QUARTER | After the Sharks' Jordan Tully scored the game's first bucket, Eckerd raced out to a 9-0 run over three minutes of game time. The Sharks, however, responded with an 8-0 run of their own to end the quarter, keeping the Tritons scoreless on their final eight possessions, spanning nearly five full minutes, by forcing six missed shots and two turnovers.
 
2ND QUARTER | The Sharks extended Eckerd's scoring drought to 11 possessions and nearly seven and half minutes, as the Tritons missed their first four field goals of the second half, as well. The Sharks used the opportunity to push their lead to five points, and it oscillated between two and five for much of the rest of the half, save for back-to-back 3-pointers by Alison Hughes, the final one coming with 37 seconds left. A foul on an Eckerd three-pointer with two seconds remaining gave them three free throws, and they made them count, hitting all three. A turnover on the inbounds play proved costly, as the Tritons collected the steal to hit a jumper as time expired, something which would prove to be a harbinger of doom for the Sharks again after halftime, and Eckerd turned a 30-23 deficit into 30-28 in the span of two seconds.
 
3RD QUARTER | The Sharks came back from the locker room hungry on both ends of the floor, forcing turnovers on Eckerd's first four possessions of the half, followed by a pair of missed jumpers and two more turnovers on their next four possessions, scoring nine straight points in the process to take a game-high 11-point lead, 39-28, with 5:28 left in the quarter. A Triton layup 15 seconds later, however, seemed to steal all of the Sharks' energy, as it kicked off their own 9-0 run lasting until the end of the period, and the Sharks entered the final period with the same two-point lead, this time 39-37. During the drought, the Sharks came up empty on nine possessions, committing three turnovers, and missing five field goals and two free throws.
 
4TH QUARTER | The final frame saw four ties and three lead changes, but it was Alison Hughes who started the scoring with the first of her two clutch 3-pointers in the quarter to put the Sharks up by five. The Tritons scored the next six, including four at the line, for the first of those lead changes, but Christen Prasse made a pair of layups and the Sharks were back in front by three. Eckerd once again scored six in a row, and again with the first four coming on free throws, to take a 3-point lead of their own with 4:37 remaining. Maria Bardeeva scored three by herself to tie the game again at the 3:06 mark. The teams traded the next two baskets, but the Tritons hit a 3-pointer and a layup to go up by five with 1:25 left. A Bardeeva layup got the Sharks within one possession 14 seconds later, and Hughes tied the game with her fourth three-ball of the game. The Tritons first tried to win the game on a triple with five seconds missed, but it was no good. A second attempt off the offensive rebound, an off-balance desperation shot as the clock hit zero, however, somehow found the bottom of the net.
 
INSIDE THE STATS:
 

• Hughes and Prasse shared the team-high of 14 points apiece. They were both 5-of-10 from the field; Prasse made four of her six free throws, while Hughes shot 4-for-9 from 3-point range. Prasse also had six of the team's ten assists, twice as many as anyone else on the court for either team.
• Sarah Kelly, appearing in just her second game of the season, brought down a game-high eight rebounds, matching her career high from nearly three years ago, against Florida Tech on Feb. 3, 2016.
• The Sharks held a 14-9 advantage in offensive rebounds, resulting in 17 second chance points, compared to seven by Eckerd.
• The Sharks made their first six free throws of the game and eight of ten total in the first half, but shot just 2-of-13 at the line after halftime including missing all three of their attempts in the final two minutes of the game.
• After shooting 84.5% (164-of-194) at the charity stripe over the first 11 games, including a program-record 13-for-13 against Drury on Dec. 16, the Sharks have made less than half of their free throws in each of the last three games, making just 26-of-61 total, or 42.6%.

 
UP NEXT:
 
The Sharks will host the Tampa Spartans for the second game of their three-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 12 at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
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Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_WBasketball.