FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women's basketball team battled through the tough defense of the Rollins Tars, displaying some strong play of their own, en route to a 66-59 victory over the Rollins Tars at the Rick Case Arena on Saturday afternoon in their first home conference game of the season.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: W, 66-59
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern Sharks (4-4, 2-1 SSC), Rollins (6-4, 0-3 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1ST QUARTER | The opening frame was a back-and-forth affair that saw three ties and three more lead changes. The Sharks scored on their first possession with a layup by Maria Bardeeva, but the Tars answered with five points to take their first lead. After a Claire McMahon 3-pointer to put the Sharks up by a pair, the teams stayed close, with the largest lead on either side being four points for the Tars, at 17-13, with 90 seconds remaining before the two teams traded 3-pointers to end the period 20-16 in favor of Rollins.

2ND QUARTER | The Sharks let their defense take control in the second, holding the Tars to just 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting and four empty 3-point attempts. Bardeeva hit one of two free throws just under two minutes in to tie the game before Hailey Conley hit from long distance to retake the lead. Trailing by a point at the media timeout, the Sharks exploded on an 10-2 run to gain their largest lead of the half, started by another Conley triple and punctuated by one from Annie Santucci, just her second of the season. A late Tars jumper finished the half with the Sharks still ahead, 35-30.

3RD QUARTER | Coming out of the locker room, the Sharks held on to their lead for much of the quarter, until the Tars stole it back with a one-point edge at the 3:30 mark. Conley responded on the very next possession with yet another trey, and Skyla Osceola broke the ensuing tie with her first of points of the game with 25 seconds left. The Tars capitalized on a second-chance opportunity to beat the buzzer, but the Sharks still maintained a slim, 49-48 margin.

4TH QUARTER | Three more ties followed in the final period, the ninth and final of the game coming at the 5:27 mark. But Conley turned into a one-woman wrecking machine for the rest of the game, scoring each of the team's final 12 points, starting with back-to-back 3-pointers, her fifth and sixth of the afternoon, to put the Sharks ahead for good. The Tars got within one, before Conley made her first inside shot of the day with 2:19 remaining, and then made all four of her free throws in the final 45 seconds to put the game on ice, while the defense forced misses on the Tars' last seven field goal attempts.

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Hailey Conley finished with a career-high 24 points and matched her career-high of six 3-pointers, which she previously set at Tampa on Nov. 23. She shot 50% from the field and 55% from deep. The junior is now averaging three per game, placing her second in the SSC, while shooting 42.9% on the season from beyond the arc.
• Jordan Tully was the other Shark in double figures, with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting and 3-of-4 at the line, while adding a pair of blocks on defense.
• Claire McMahon and Maria Bardeeva were both one point off. McMahon hit on three of her five field goals, including one from long range, as well as both of her free throws. She also led the team with five assists and shared the lead in rebounds with Conley and Makenna Drabick, with each player gathering six boards. Barddeva, meanwhile, made her second start of the season count, shooting 4-of-6 from the field, despite just 16 points in five games coming in.
• Despite 20 extra field goals, the Tars only made two more than the Sharks as a team, resulting in a significant shooting edge of 46.8% to 35.8% in favor of the home team.
• The Sharks also shot 50% (10-for-20) from 3-point range as a team, making at least two in each quarter, while the Tars were 3-of-4 in the opening frame but just 1-of-10 after that.
• The Sharks were nearly perfect at the line, going 12-for-14 (86%) collectively, including 9 out of 10 in the second half, while Rollins was just 7-of-12 on free throws, with all 12 attempts before halftime.

UP NEXT:
The Sharks will host the Shark Classic next weekend, welcoming Ohio Dominican and Findlay to the Rick Case Arena. They'll face off against the Panthers on Friday at noon and the Oilers on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. to conclude the 2019 calendar year.

SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
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