FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (January 27, 2024) - The Rollins Tars suffered their fifth consecutive loss on Saturday, this time falling to the Nova Southeastern Sharks (15-3, 10-1 SSC) by a score of 85-53. Rollins now stands at 9-8 on the year with a 6-5 record in the SSC.
Rollins started off strong with a layup from
Aaliyah Irizarry-Perez to start the game, followed by a three from
Grace Alfieri to take a quick 5-2 lead. Nova Southeastern would take over the lead soon after, but Rollins would manage to tie the game at seven and at nine with makes from
Ajalon Gillard and
Maddie Dillinger. The Sharks would end the quarter on a 13-2 run and take a 22-11 lead at the end of one.
The Tars held Nova scoreless for the first 2:15 of the second quarter, and managed to score seven points in that time frame to pull within six on an
Emily McIntosh triple. Minutes later, they would get as close as five when
Kaitlyn Sanders finished in the paint to make the score 28-23. Again, the Sharks found the momentum to end the quarter, and went into halftime up 38-25.
Gillard nailed a three to start the Tars' scoring in the third, but the Shark offense proved to be too much to overcome. India Shepherd in particular was effective, knocking down a pair of threes to keep a comfortable lead. Nova led 62-41 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter played to a similar script as Nova continued to dominate on the offensive end, while Rollins struggled to find the hoop. McIntosh connected on back-to-back threes in the middle of the quarter, but that was the highlight for Rollins in the final frame as they would end up losing by a count of 85-53.
Ball control was a key factor in this one as Rollins committed twenty turnovers while Nova Southeastern only had five.
Dillinger was effective from the floor with a team-high 16 points on 7-9 shooting. McIntosh was next up with nine points on her three makes from distance.
Rollins will return home on Wednesday, January 31 for a date with the Florida Tech Panthers. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 pm from Winter Park.
