Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. – Lynn University's women's basketball team fell 84-73 to Nova Southeastern Wednesday night despite another strong scoring effort from Chelsea Patterson and Quanisha Dixon. The duo combined for 46 points on 16-of-29 shooting but LU saw its record drop to 11-14 overall and 5-10 in the Sunshine State Conference
The Fighting Knights got off to a rough start, falling behind 13-3 while going just 1-of-6 from the field with several turnovers. Head coach Niki Washington quickly called a timeout to regroup her squad and LU took off.
Lynn went on a 13-2 run as Chelsea Patterson and Quanisha Dixon hit back-to-back threes and Kira Harvey drained two more to put the Blue & White on top 16-15. It was a back-and-forth offensive battle the remaining 12 minutes. Patterson would go on to score 15 of her 26 points in the period, Dixon added 12 more while NSU's Stefanie Sarosi notched 18 points.
Every time the Knights built up a lead, going ahead by as many as six, the Sharks would turn around and connect on their shots to even things up. It looked as though Lynn would head into the locker room with a one-point lead after Patterson hit a trey with 13 seconds remaining but Jessica Walter knocked a three-pointer time expiring to put Nova Southeastern on top 41-39 at the break.
A 10-0 run to start the second half carried the Sharks to a 12 point, 51-39, lead, one they would not relinquish. Twice Lynn would get to within three but each time Sarosi answered with a basket in the paint. She finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds.
Amanda Schultz brought the Knights to within one, 66-65, with 5:55 remaining to play only to see Sabrina Stambouli go coast-to-coast on one play and hit a three on the next to give the Sharks a 71-65 advantage. Lynn had two more opportunities to get back into the game but turnovers helped NSU pull away.
Following her 34-point performance against Barry, Dixon logged 20 points.
Lynn was outstanding from the field in the opening half, knocking down 45.5% of its shots but finished with 40% shooting overall while Nova Southeastern hit 46.8% of its attempts.
The Fighting Knights return to action on Saturday, February 26, at 2 p.m. when they travel to Winter Park, Fla., to square-off against Rollins. Fans can follow the action live by logging on to www.LynnFightingKnights.comand selecting "Game Central."
