WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. – The twentieth-ranked Nova Southeastern Women’s Basketball team took down Palm Beach Atlantic Wednesday evening on the road at the Rubin Arena. Double-digit efforts from Jess Moors (16 points), Payton Graber (15 points), Corina Conley (13 points), and Madison Cloonan (10 points) led the Sharks to their fifth consecutive victory.
SCORE: No. 20 Nova Southeastern 74, Palm Beach Atlantic 66
RECORDS: No. 20 Nova Southeastern 12-2, 5-1 SSC, Palm Beach Atlantic 8-6, 2-4 SSC
LOCATION: Rubin Arena | West Palm Beach, Fla.
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First Half – Madison Cloonan came out scorching, scoring eight of the Sharks first 13 points to put NSU ahead 13-8 with 4:46 left to play in the first quarter. PBA answered with buckets of their own but five consecutive points from Dash Shaw and Madison Cloonan closed out a 25-point quarter for the Sharks, giving them a seven-point advantage going into the second quarter. Jess Moors kicked off the second quarter with back-to-back three-pointers to give NSU a double-digit lead. The rest of the quarter featured a defensive clinic by the Sharks as they ballooned their lead to 44-28 as they headed into the halftime break.
Second Half- The fouls began to rack up in the third quarter as both teams combined for 14 made throws with the Sailfish taking 11 of those free throws. Despite the free throw disparity, NSU held onto a 59-49 lead heading into the final frame. One minute into the quarter, Palm Beach Atlantic was able to cut their deficit to eight points but a layup by Payton Graber put the Sharks back up double digits. With four minutes remaining, Shaw would then score the Sharks next seven points, ultimately securing the 74-66 SSC victory for Nova Southeastern.
Jess Moors – 16 points, nine rebounds
Payton Graber – 15 points, five assists
Corina Conley – 13 points, five rebounds
Madison Cloonan – 10 points, 12 rebounds
Head Coach LeAnn Freeland-Curry – We are happy with the road win today. I thought we played a solid first half. But overall we have to be more disciplined on the defensive end of the floor. We are better defenders on the ball than our performance today. We are fouling way too much unnecessarily.
Madison Cloonan – Definitely wasn’t our prettiest brand of basketball, but any road win in the SSC is a good one. Proud of our effort, but looking forward to cleaning things up and continuing to improve!
Nova Southeastern will return back to the Shark Tank for an SSC matchup against the Saint Leo Lions on Saturday, January 11th. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.
