LIVE NSU AUDIO | LIVE PBA VIDEO | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 20 Nova Southeastern women's basketball team faces its final out-of-conference foe of this regular season, traveling to West Palm Beach to take on Palm Beach Atlantic Wednesday evening at 5:30.
The Sharks (12-3) topped Barry on Saturday to stay in third place in the Sunshine State Conference at 4-2. The squad at the very top of the standings faces both teams right below them this week. Undefeated Florida Tech currently has sole possession of first place, but hosts second place Rollins (4-1) on Wednesday. The 5-0 Panthers then come into the NSU Arena to play the Sharks this upcoming Saturday.
Palm Beach Atlantic (5-14) has lost eight games in a row, the last six coming against SSC competition. Overall, they are 1-9 against the conference they will soon be joining, with that lone win their most recent of the season, Dec. 13 when they hosted Saint Leo (76-63).
Janelle Cannon, who has played in five of the last six games for the Sailfish, has averaged a team-best 13 points per game in that span, including 23 on Jan. 6 against Florida Tech and 22 against Lynn eight days later. Nkiru Anyagaligbo is next at 10.9 points and is the team's top rebounder at 7.1 a night.
In the 76-68 win Saturday over Barry, the Sharks were led by
Jessica Valley (R-Jr., Lafayette, Ind.) with 17 points, and she also had eight rebounds to tie for the team high.
Danielle Robinson (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had 15 points, while
Monaye Merritt (R-Jr., Philadelphia) added 14.
For the season,
Jasmine Wilkins (R-Sr., Miami) has the slight edge in points per game, 14.3, over Robinson's 14.2. Merritt is at 11.5,
Kayla Wright (So., Lauderhill, Fla.) 9.8 and Valley 8.3. Valley averages 7.0 rebounds per night with Wilkins at 6.1 and Merritt at 4.9. Merritt and Valley post 4.5 and 4.1 assists a game as well.
Wilkins ranks third in the nation in field goal percentage, making good on 63.8 percent of her shots. That is first in the SSC, as is Merritt's three steals per night, and
Molly Blomer's (Jr., West Chester, Ohio) 3-point percentage of 43.4. Merritt is second in the conference in assists, and Wilkins is second in blocked shots per game (1.6).
Tip time from West Palm is 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and fans can follow along with all of the coverage at the links at the top of this page.
