MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University women’s basketball team has been chosen as the Sunshine State Conference preseason favorites, as voted on by the league’s coaches and announced by the conference office on Friday.
The Sharks received five of nine first-place votes and 60 points, two more in both totals than Tampa. Rollins is third at 47, followed by Eckerd (42) and Barry (35), who received the remaining first-place selection.
“It is going to be another exciting year for SSC basketball,” said head coach LeAnn Freeland. “With so many talented teams and great coaches, we must be disciplined in our preparation every game. We will get every team’s best game, so it is vital we don’t focus on preseason rankings.”
NSU won both the conference’s regular season and postseason tournament championships last season on the way to their third consecutive South Region title. They had a 27-6 overall mark and a 13-3 record in conference play. It is also the third straight year in which they have taken home one of the two league crowns, but the first time since 2007-08 that they notched both.
Two starters from a year ago return in Alexis Murphy (Sr., Carlisle, Ohio) and Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.), along with frontcourt veterans Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) and Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.). After a year off, 2013-14 All-American, and leading scorer that season, Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) also rejoins the current squad, made up of nine total returnees and six newcomers.
The Sharks’ 2015-16 campaign opens up with the NSU Tipoff Classic, Nov. 13-14, hosting North Alabama and Lee, respectively. Their defense of the SSC regular season title begins the following week, Nov. 21, against Lynn at the NSU Arena.
| Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 |
School (FPV) Nova Southeastern (5) Tampa (3) Rollins Eckerd Barry (1) Florida Tech Florida Southern Saint Leo Lynn |
Total Votes 60 58 47 42 35 31 26 16 9 |