FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 21 Nova Southeastern University women's basketball team earned an 80-74 comeback victory over Lynn on Wednesday night to advance to the Sunshine State Conference Championship semifinals.
 
Down by 11 with seven minutes left in the fourth period, the Sharks (23-5) went on a 21-4 run, including all 11 points over the last 1:42, to secure the win over the Fighting Knights (4-23). The offensive effort was led by SSC Player of the Year Kayla Wright (Jr., Lauderhill, Fla.), who put up 29 points, and All-SSC Newcomer Ida Krogh (R-Sr., Aarhus, Denmark) who had a career-high 17 points.
 
Lynn came to battle as the Fighting Knights held the lead at the end of the first and second periods. The Sharks began to come back at the end of the first half when Molly Blomer (Sr., West Chester, Ohio) hit a three at 3:26 to bring NSU within three points. The Sharks went up 38-35 with two minutes left to play off of an Alexis Murphy 3-pointer, but Lynn's Shatorria Baker would hit three in a row to go into the half up 43-40.
 
In the third period, the Sharks quickly took the lead after back-to-back layups by Wright within the first 30 seconds. They would go up as much as seven until just after the five-minute mark. The Fighting Knights closed the gap, outscoring the Sharks 16-5 and securing the lead as the game went into the fourth period.
 
After three minutes into the final period, the Sharks found themselves trailing by 11. NSU was down but definitely not out. Wright began the offensive attack with a layup with 6:31 left to play. Krogh would go to the line and close the gap to seven (at 5:26). Taylor Buie (R-Jr., Puyallup, Wash.) would then get two of her own at the free throw line to move the score to 70-65 with just under five minutes to play.
 
With four points from Wright and two apiece for Monaye Merritt (R-Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) and Krogh, the Sharks tied things up 74-74 with 1:20 to play. Krogh made a key rebound that led to a Merritt layup to go ahead by two points, giving the Sharks the lead with just 51 seconds left. Lynn would then make a costly foul on Krogh who made both of her foul shots to move ahead by four. A Lynn turnover and foul at 11 seconds would clinch the win for NSU as Buie racked up the last two points for the Sharks at the foul line.
 
In addition to Wright and Krogh, SSC Defensive Player of the Year Merritt had 14 points and a team-best nine assists. Buie followed with seven assists of her own and only one turnover. Blomer and Buie had eight and six points on the night, respectively.
 
The Sharks are looking for their second straight dual championship, winning both the SSC regular season and tournament titles as they did in 2015, as they move on to face Tampa in the SSC Championship semifinals. The game is slated for 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 5 at the ICI Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. For more information about the championship,  visit Championship Central HERE.