WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Leading for all but the first two-plus minutes of the game, the Nova Southeastern women’s basketball team earned a much-needed Sunshine State Conference road victory, defeating Palm Beach Atlantic, 76-62, at the Rubin Arena on Wednesday evening.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
FINAL: W, 76-62
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern Sharks (12-12, 8-9 SSC), Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish (3-21, 1-16 SSC)
LOCATION: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1ST QUARTER | The Sailfish scored the first bucket of the game, a three-pointer just 1:15 in, but the Sharks wasted no time matching it, as Makenna Drabick converted a three-point play on the very next possession just 23 seconds later. That kicked off an 11-0 run, and the Sharks never looked back, with a Jordan Tully layup giving them the lead for good at the 7:49 mark. They led by double digits on a layup by Hailey Conley with over three minutes still to play and settled for a nine-point lead by quarter’s end.
2ND QUARTER | The two teams combined to miss their first seven shots of the period before Annie Santucci hit from long range to start a 7-0 run and the lead never dropped back to single digits for the rest of the game. Clara Prasse made the last of the team’s four three-pointers in the frame, on just six attempts, to put the Sharks in front by 20 briefly – before the Sailfish scored eight in a row in the two minutes before halftime to cut it back down to a dozen.
3RD QUARTER | Conley dominated the third, with 11 of the team’s 19 points. Despite missing her first two shots out of the break, she made each of her last four field goals, as well as a trio of free throws, over the next 6:30. The team’s lead, meanwhile, oscillated back and forth between 13 and 18 for the entire period, finishing at 15 (58-43) following a Prasse free throw.
4TH QUARTER | Conley’s hot stretch continued into the early seconds of the final quarter, as she hit her second trey of the game almost immediately. Drabick followed with a pair at the stripe to set the lead at 20 once again. The Sailfish scored the next six, but they never got closer than that 14-point margin, which is where it ended at the final whistle.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- Conley scored a game-high 21 points, shooting 7-of-15 from the field and made half of her four attempts from long range, as well as all five of her free throws. It was her highest total since another 21-point game last month vs. Embry-Riddle. She also entered in a bit of a three-point slump, shooting just 1-for-17 over the previous three games.
- Santucci continued her strong play, posting her third consecutive double-digit effort, with 11 points on 4-for-5 from the field, including three from beyond the arc, all in the first half. She also matched her career high of five rebounds.
- Santucci has 37 points on 11-of-22 (50%) shooting, including 9-for-15 (60%) from deep, in her last three outings. In her first 16 games of the season, she tallied just 28 total points, while shooting 10-for-33 (30.3%) and 5-for-25 (20%) on three-pointers.
- Drabick and Tully scored 13 points apiece, with Drabick getting the rebound on PBA’s last miss with six seconds left for the double-double that Tully was one board shy of.
- For Drabick, getting the start for the third game in a row resulted in her third double-digit rebounding total and her second double-double of the season, shooting 4-of-9 from the field and 5-of-6 on free throws.
- Tully, meanwhile, added a career-high five blocks and a pair of steals to her line. She now leads the SSC in both scoring (434, at an 18.1 per-game clip) and blocks (38, 1.6 per game) and has 67 blocks in her 47-game career with the Sharks, averaging 1.4 per contest.
- Janiffer Rodriguez also filled out the stat sheet nicely, with six points on 3-for-6 from the field, as well as dishing out a game-high seven assists, bringing down four boards and collecting a pair of steals.
UP NEXT:
The Sharks will look to complete another sweep this weekend, when they head up to Melbourne to take on Florida Tech, who the Sharks moved half a game ahead of in the SSC standings with their win and the Panthers’ loss to Tampa. The Sharks dominated Florida Tech at the Rick Case Arena, 80-61, back on Jan. 11. Tully had a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double in that game, while Drabick posted the first of her career, with 11 of each.
SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
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