FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Fourth-ranked Nova Southeastern University buried a total of 12 three-point buckets and shot over 50 percent from the field to hand the Eckerd College women's basketball program a road defeat on Wednesday evening, 84-48.
The Sharks (18-1, 9-1 SSC) continued their run at the top of the Sunshine State Conference standings as the second half of the league schedule officially started in NSU Arena.
Taylor Buie and Alexis Parker each connected on three treys as Nova Southeastern claimed both matchups against the Tritons (8-11, 1-8 SSC) during the current regular season.
Buie scored 18 points to lead all players, Parker cashed in with 11 and Jasmine Wilkins scored 11 of her 14 points in the first half to help lead the Sharks' offense.
Senior
Amy Buccilla scored a team-high 16 points, including four three-point baskets of her own, and junior guard
Rana Thomas, coming off a career-high 21-point outing against Palm Beach Atlantic University, contributed 11 in the effort.
Buccilla scored the team's first six points out of the gates and the Sharks built up a 21-6 advantage with the game-opening run capped with back-to-back threes by Molly Blomer.
Points were a little difficult to come by early before freshman
Sarah Ammons curled off a screen in the high post and went in for a layup. She was the first Triton to score other than Buccilla spanning the first 10 minutes and change.
Ammons finished with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in a reserve role and was just one point shy of matching her season-high of nine.
After the Sharks led by 25 at the break, Murphy triggered Nova Southeastern's charge in the second half with another sequence of back-to-back treys in transition. At one point, the Tritons were only outscored in the final period, 19-17, before NSU caught fire from deep again to close out regulation.
Foul trouble was a factor again as senior leading scorer/rebounder
Liga Vente was saddled with her fifth personal with 11:21 left in the second half. Vente had three fouls in the first half and unfortunately was unable to get into the offensive flow without a shot attempt in the opening period.
Junior
Ivana Grbic was whistled for her fourth foul shortly after Vente left the floor and was also disqualified despite grabbing eight rebounds and handing out two assists.
The starting frontcourt of Vente and Grbic each finished with five points.
The Tritons return to the McArthur Center on Saturday to play host to another nationally-ranked program in Rollins College with a 2 p.m. tip-off scheduled.
