TAMPA, Fla. The 20th-ranked Nova Southeastern women's basketball team dropped Wednesday night's road matchup against the 23rd-ranked Tampa Spartans at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center. Aubrey Stupp led the Sharks in scoring with 12 points.

       
     
SCORE: No. 20 Nova Southeastern 52, No. 23 Tampa 69  
RECORDS: No. 20 Nova Southeastern 17-4, 10-3 SSC, No. 23 Tampa 20-4, 12-2 SSC       
LOCATION: Bob Martinez Athletics Center | Tampa, Fla.    
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First Half – Back-to-back three-pointers from Kailyn Terrell and Payton Graber gave the Sharks an early 6-3 lead. Both teams continued to trade baskets as NSU held onto a 10-9 advantage with 3:56 left to play in the quarter. Tampa then closed out the first quarter on an 8-2 run to go up 17-12 as they headed into the second quarter. The Spartans came out hot, taking an 11-point advantage midway through the second. NSU then answered with a 5-0 run to cut their deficit to six but back-to-back three-pointers by Tampa put them ahead 30-20 heading into the halftime break.

Second Half - UT's defense posed problems for the Sharks to start the second half, holding NSU scoreless for six minutes. Baskets from Aubrey Stupp and Delaney Wolfe stopped the Sharks drought as they faced a 45-27 deficit with 1:33 left to play in the third quarter. Tampa continued to stay aggressive, holding onto a 47-32 advantage going into the final frame. NSU's offense came alive in the fourth but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback. Nova Southeastern would drop tonight's SSC matchup against Tampa 69-52.

The Sharks will head back home for an SSC Showdown against the Eckerd Tritons on Saturday, February 8th. Tip off is set for 2:00 p.m.