FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – For the second game in a row, the Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team used a dominant first half to cruise to an easy win, as they defeated the Saint Leo Lions 73-62 in Sunshine State Conference action at the Rick Case Arena on Saturday afternoon.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: W, 73-62
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern University Sharks (14-8, 10-5 SSC), Saint Leo University Lions (9-14, 5-10 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1ST QUARTER | The Sharks sprinted out to an early 8-2 lead just 1:36 into the game, hitting their first three shots - a jumper by
Alison Hughes and back-to-back 3-pointers by
Claire McMahon and Hughes. After a Lions layup 45 seconds later, the two teams then combined to come up empty on 11 consecutive possessions, a scoreless run spanning nearly three full minutes. The Lions ended the drought with another layup to make it a two-point game, but the Sharks responded with the last 14 points of the period for a 22-6 lead. The Sharks made five of eight field goals and three of their four free throw attempts over the last 4:12 of the quarter, while the Lions drew blanks on their final possessions, missed five field goals and committing three turnovers. A
Jordan Tully layup with two minutes remaining gave the Sharks a double-digit lead for the first time and it never fell below that mark for the rest of the game. All told, after the Saint Leo started 2-for-4 from the field, the Sharks held them to just 1-of-12 and forced five turnovers over the last 7:12 of the period, allowing them to score on just one of 14 possessions.
2ND QUARTER | McMahon extended the streak to 17 points in a row with her second 3-pointer just 14 seconds into the quarter. After a pair of field goals ended Saint Leo's 0-fer stretch, the Sharks scored ten more in a row to push their lead out to a game-high 24 points, at 35-11 with 4:16 left in the half. The Lions cut into the lead, getting seven back, but the Sharks scored the final six points in the 1:31 before the horn signaled halftime, for a 41-18 lead.
3RD QUARTER | After shooting below 26 percent from the field (8-of-31) in the first half, the Lions found their offensive rhythm in the third period, shooting 64 percent (9-for-14), including three of four attempts from beyond the arc. They eclipsed their first-half point total in under eight minutes and ended up with 24 in the quarter, but it did little to narrow the margin, as the Sharks shot 60 percent from the field and still led by a healthy 18 points entering the final frame, 60-42.
4TH QUARTER | Saint Leo continued their hot shooting into the fourth, making seven of 12 attempts from the field (58 percent) and two of three from deep. Still, they only managed to get their deficit to the 11 points that separated the teams, and even wasn't until the final two minutes of the game.
INSIDE THE STATS:
- Coming off the bench, Tully scored two-thirds of her game-high 18 points after halftime, with half a dozen in each quarter and six of the 12 coming at the foul line. She also came up with a pair of blocks.
- Hughes led the way early on with 10 of her 15 in the opening frame, including two of her three three-pointers and three of her four steals. In fact, at halftime, she was still the game's only double-digit scorer.
- Christen Prasse had her fifth double-double in the last six games, with 11 points and 12 rebounds, also dishing out a game-high five assists.
- McMahon scored 10 points and swatted away a game-high three shots, giving her 31 blocks on the year, the third-best total in the SSC.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- With 67 three-pointers now on the season, at a rate of over three per game, Alison Hughes is already 8th all-time in single-season program history, just eight short of her mark from last season, which placed third, and sixth with 142 in her career.
UP NEXT:
The Sharks will look to avenge a buzzer-beater loss to Eckerd (16-6, 10-4 SSC) when they travel up to St. Petersburg on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The Sharks are just half a game behind the Tritons for third place in the conference standings and have won seven of eight since that loss, while Eckerd has won five in a row of their own.
SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_WBasketball.
