BOX SCORE
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team (14-9) won its final out-of-conference game of the 2011-12 season, downing Palm Beach Atlantic (7-18) by a score of 69-51 on the road Wednesday evening.
The Sharks opened the game with a Jessica Russi (So., Lake Mary, Fla.) steal that led to a
Jasmine Wilkins (So., Miami, Fla.) layup and plus-one in transition. NSU took a 10-6 lead into the first media timeout after
Danielle Robinson (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) hit her 53rd 3-pointer of the season.
Robinson put the Sharks ahead by 11, 19-8, draining her second trey of the half at the 10:46 mark. The Sharks largest lead of the opening stanza, 26-9, came after
Jada Buckner (Sr., Loudon, Tenn.) converted on an attempt from behind the arc, set up by
Meixandra Porter (Jr., Chantilly, Va.) with just over nine minutes left.
The Sailfish battled back though, finishing the half on an 18-10 run, capped by a Kelly Frisz 3-pointer with 34 ticks left before the intermission.
As a team, the Sharks shot 54.2 percent from the field (13-of-24) in the first half, while PBA was successful on only 37 percent (10-of-27) of its attempts. Porter led all scorers with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and tied Russi with a team-high four rebounds.
The teams went back and forth early in the second half with the score differential not changing much from halftime. Porter though provided a six-point swing all by herself within a 40 second span, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to give NSU a 12-point advantage, 48-36, with just over 12:30 left to play.
Richelle Carach (So., Naples, Fla.) extended the NSU lead to 16, scoring layups on consecutive possessions, assisted by Robinson and Quinessa Johnson (Sr., West Chester, Ohio), respectively.
NSU’s largest lead came with 4:35 remaining, as Wilkins laid in a Russi pass to put the Sharks up by 21 points. Russi recorded her fifth assist of the contest with only 18 seconds left, setting up an
Ashley Day (Sr., West Palm Beach, Fla.) lay in to secure the Sharks’ 69-51 victory.
Porter finished with a career-best eight made field goals for a game-high 22 points. Russi snagged a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points and five assists. With two made 3-pointers, Robinson grabbed sole possession of second place on the single season made 3-pointers list in NSU history. She has made 54 this season and is just nine shy of the single season record of 63 with three game left.
The Sharks will resume conference play Saturday, heading to Saint Leo to take on the Lions in a 2 p.m. matchup.
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