FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After a long stretch of close games that went down to the wire, including back-to-back overtime losses last week, the Nova Southeastern women's basketball team was able to rest easy at the end of their 80-61 Sunshine State Conference victory over the Panthers from the Florida Institute of Technology at the Rick Case Arena on Saturday afternoon.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: W, 80-61
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern Sharks (7-7, 3-4 SSC), Florida Tech Panthers (8-8, 4-4 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
FOLLOW US: @NSUSHARKS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1ST QUARTER | The game got off to a bit of a slow start, with the Sharks scoring first with a pair at the line just over a minute in, but they didn't make their first field goal until a little more than two and a half minutes later. The Panthers, in the meantime, scored on three straight possessions, thanks to a pair of offensive rebounds. Still, the Sharks battled back, retaking the lead with consecutive 3-pointers by Annie Santucci and Sarah Kelly. Three more ties followed in the final three-plus minutes, before the Panthers took a 16-14 lead into the second quarter, with the teams committing three turnovers in the final minute.

2ND QUARTER | The game went continued its back-and-forth pace to begin the quarter, with two more ties at 16 and 21, but Jordan Tully put a stop to that, with four straight layups in a span of 93 seconds to put the Sharks in front for good. FIT got back within two points, but the Sharks kept them empty on their final six possessions of the half, using the opportunity to go on a 7-0 run and take a 36-27 lead into the break.

3RD QUARTER | The Panthers started with a pair of layups to cut the deficit to five, but that would prove to be the closest the Sharks would let them for the rest of the game, holding them without a field goal for nearly four minutes with a 11-3 run and flirting with a double-digit lead for the rest of the quarter. Esabelle Levine put them up by 10 (41-31) for the first time with a 3-pointer two minutes in, and then another 11-3 run pushed the lead out as high as 17 points (58-41) with a Hailey Conley 3-pointer. Florida Tech scored a pair of buckets late, but the lead was still at a dozen entering the final frame.

4TH QUARTER | A Janiffer Rodriguez triple punctuated eight straight by the home squad and put them up by 20 (68-48) for the first time and it never got below 14 for the remainder of the game, as the Sharks continued to rely on their inside game to put it away, scoring six of their seven field goals in the paint.

STATS OF THE NIGHT:

• Despite just two points and no field goal attempts in the first quarter, Jordan Tully led the team, recording her first career double-double, with a season-high 10 rebounds, one off her career mark, to go along with 21 points, her fifth 20-point output of the season and the first since playing up at Saint Leo more than a month ago. She shot 8-of-15 from the field and 5-for-7 at the foul line and added a pair of steals
• Hailey Conley wasn't far off with 19 points, seven boards and six assists, on 7-for-14 from the field and made four more 3-pointers, adding to her SSC-leading total of 45.
• Makenna Drabick also posted her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, both numbers either matching or setting new personal bests as a member of the Sharks. The first-year transfer from Eastern Michigan also dished out four assists, another career-high, after entering the game with just six in the first 13 games of the season. She made 4-of-6 shots from the field and 3-of-4 at the stripe.
• Maria Bardeeva continues her efficient shooting of late as the fourth Shark in double figures with 10 points on 5-of-9. She is now shooting just under 65% (22-for-34) from the field over the last five games.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

•  The Sharks enjoyed their largest margin of victory on the season and swung their SSC point differential back into positive territory. After entering the game at -10 (-1.7 points per game), they have improved to +9 (+1.2 points per game).

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS

UP NEXT:
The Sharks continue their three-game homestand on Wednesday, January 15 against Palm Beach Atlantic, with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m. The Sailfish, at 0-7, are the SSC's only remaining team with a conference victory this season, averaging a league-worst 56.2 points per game and 48.4 in conference action, 11 points lowest than the 10th-ranked squad, while the Sharks continue to pace the league at 71.7 points per SSC contest.

SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_WBasketball.