BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Nova Southeastern started the second half on a 26-6 run and topped Sunshine State Conference rival Lynn 84-53 on the road Wednesday night.
The Sharks (11-0, 3-0 SSC) led by six at the half, and a Lynn layup cut it to four at the 19:30 mark. From then until 10:54 left, NSU scored 26 of the game's 32 points to extend its lead to 61-35. Included in the run was 11 points from Taylor Buie, who only had two points in the first half and was, at that point, 0-for-6 from the 3-point line. She had three 3's in less than three minutes during the stretch.
Carrying the scoring load in the first half for NSU were seniors Jasmine Wilkins and Amanda Burakoski. Wilkins was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for 11 first-half points, while Burakoski had nine on 3 of 4 shooting from behind the arc.
Buie would end up with 16 points in the second half, for a game-high total of 18. Burakoski had 17, including 5 of 7 from long range, while Wilkins had a double-double: 14 points (on 6 of 6 shooting) and 10 rebounds. She helped lead the Sharks to a 40-24 rebounding advantage against the Fighting Knights (8-4, 1-1 SSC).
No. 1 Bentey, 79, Le Moyne 56
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Kelsey Mattice scored a career-high 15 points in her return to central New York, Courtney Finn claimed a career-best 16 rebounds and Jacqui Brugliera netted a game-high 17 points as No. 1 Bentley stayed unbeaten with a 79-56 win against Le Moyne in Northeast-10 Conference basketball Wednesday night at Ted Grant Court.
Bentley ran its record to 13-0 (8-0 NE-10) with head coach Barbara Stevens moving to within five of the 900 career win milestone. Le Moyne dipped to 8-5 overall and 4-3 in the conference following its third loss to a nationally ranked team in its past five games.
The Falcons, down two with about six minutes left in the first half, embarked on a 26-6 explosion to make it a 46-28 contest with 14:45 left in the second. That included a 14-2 run to close out the first half and send the visitors into the break up 10 at 34-24.
Lauren Battista scored 14 points and became the fifth player in Bentley history to reach 1,700 points. She past Kim Cummings into fourth on the Falcons' all-time list with 1,713.
No. 2 Gannon 81, Cheyney 60
ERIE, Pa. -- Brittany Batts scored a career-high 28 points as No. 2 Gannon defeated Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division opponent Cheyney 81-60 on Wednesday evening at the Junker Center on the campus of Penn State Behrend. The Lady Knights conclude PSAC crossover action this season undefeated with a 6-0 mark, capturing their 22nd consecutive win in cross-divisional play. The Lady Knights improve to 15-0 on the season and the Wolves fall to 1-12 overall.
Leading the Lady Knights in back-to-back games was Batts with a career evening against the Wolves, the only Lady Knight to reach double digits. Shooting 10-for-14 in the game, Batts set a career-high in field goals made. She also tied a career-high with eight 3-pointers, including five in the second half. She has compiled 208 career 3-pointers, moving her 14 away from breaking into the top three on the program's all-time list.
In total, 12 Lady Knights registered at least a bucket in the win against Cheyney. Nettie Blake finished with a game-high 13 rebounds including eight offensive boards to go along with eight points. The Lady Knights were steady from the field in both halves, shooting 47.9 percent (34-for-71) in the game.
No. 3 Emporia State 69, Missouri Western State 52
EMPORIA, Kan. -- No. 3 Emporia State had two players with double-doubles for the second consecutive game as it defeated Missouri Western State 69-52 on Wednesday night in White Auditorium.
After the Griffons scored the first points of the game 49 seconds into the contest, the Lady Hornets answered with Kionna Kellogg 3-pointer and nevered trail the rest of the night. Missouri Western did tie the game at 19 with 9:32 left. The Lady Hornets went on a 11-2 run with 4:26 left and finished the half on an 11-0 spurt to go to the break leading 41-26.
Another 10-0 run in the second half gave the Lady Hornets their biggest lead of the night at 57-37 with 11:20 left.
Kellogg ended the night with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Amber Vandiver contributed 11 points and 12 rebounds. Kelly Moten joined them in double figures with 13 points to go along with five rebounds and seven assists.
No. 7 West Texas A&M 71, Midwestern State 54
CANYON, Texas -- West Texas A&M opened Lone Star Conference play with a hard-fought, wire-to-wire 71-54 victory against visiting Midwestern State on Wednesday evening in the First United Bank Center. With the win, WT improved to 10-1 overall and 1-0 in LSC play, while Midwestern State fell to 9-5 and 1-2 in league play.
WT shot 51.2 percent for the game on 22 of 43 from the field. The Lady Buffs were 3 of 12 from beyond the arc and 24 of 30 from the line. Junior Chontiquah White had a game-high 19 points on 7 of 9 from the field and 5 of 7 from the line, while pulling down five rebounds. Senior Devin Griffin added 14 points on 4 of 11 from the field and 6 of 8 from the line.
