FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Welcome to March. The Nova Southeastern Women’s Basketball team looks to make another deep postseason push as they begin their road to Pittsburg this evening in the Sunshine State Conference Quarterfinals. NSU will host the six-seeded Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish on Tuesday night at the Rick Case Arena.
Nova Southeastern Sharks 23-5, 16-4 SSC
Head Coach LeAnn Freeland-Curry and the Sharks are coming into the tournament clicking on all cylinders after winning four consecutive games to close out the regular season. NSU’s high-powered offense averages 71.7 points per game, which ranks second in the league, while their scoring margin ranks first at 13.7. The Sharks defense has also given opposing teams fits, as they rank third in scoring defense, only allowing 58.0 points per game. Nova Southeastern is the only team in the conference ranked in the top three in scoring offense and defense. Nationally, the Sharks are 5th in bench points per game (33.4), 13th in assists per game (16.8), and 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.16).
Aubrey Stupp leads the Sharks who also feature Payton Graber, Alana Ellis, Madison Cloonan, and Michaela Cloonan. Stupp is the only Shark averaging double figures at 14.7 points per game, and she ranks fourth nationally in free throw percentage (90.20). Graber has become a Swiss army knife player for this NSU ball club, leading the team in assists (96) and steals (52). Ellis ranks third on the team in scoring and provides an immediate spark off the bench for NSU, pouring in a season-high 29 points against Eckerd on January 4th. The Cloonan twins have made it difficult for opposing teams because of their ability to crash the glass and play make at a high level.
Nova Southeastern swept the season series against the Sailfish, beating Palm Beach Atlantic 74-66 on January 8th and 71-56 on February 12th.
This will be the first meeting between both teams in the SSC Tournament.
Palm Beach Atlantic 8-12, 14-14 SSC
The Sailfish enter the tournament 5-5 in their last ten games, closing out their regular season with a 76-58 loss to Florida Southern. Kash Ayuso is at the forefront for PBA as she looks to lead her to team to an upset victory over the Sharks.
Ayuso is second in the conference in scoring at 18.5 point per game, she is also averaging 17.5 points per game in her two matchups against the Sharks this season.
Nova Southeastern begins their postseason push for their first Sunshine State Conference tournament title since the 2014-15 season at 5:30 p.m. at the Rick Case Arena on Tuesday night.
To stay up-to-date on Sharks Women’s Basketball, be sure to follow on Instagram and X at NSU_WBasketball.
