VALDOSTA, Ga. – Nova Southeastern used a 19-4 second half run to claim a lead it would not relinquish as the Lady Sharks defeated Valdosta State 67-59 in non-conference women’s basketball action at the P.E. Complex Wednesday afternoon.

NSU (7-6) trailed 34-26 at the intermission, but quickly took the lead in the early going of the second half as it hit seven of its first eight field goal attempts of the frame. Lindsey Newpher started the run with a three before VSU (4-8) got buckets from Alli Jones and Tamika Booker to push its advantage to 38-29.

Jada Buckner answered the two Lady Blazer shots with a three to pull the Sharks back to within six points while Stevie Kamp added a pair of buckets before Abbie Tepe evened the game on a fast break lay-up off of a steal. LaShawnna Edwards gave Nova Southeastern the lead with a jumper in the paint and Newpher hit another three before closing out the run with a pair of free throws that posted NSU to a 45-38 advantage with 12:54 remaining in the game.

Valdosta State closed to within two on three occasions over the ensuing six minutes of play, but missed a game-tying a jumper and a three-point attempt for the lead on a pair of possessions, allowing the Lady Sharks to increase their advantage once again. A Leschelle Matthews jumper with 6:18 to go in the game closed the Lady Blazers to within a basket for the final time, but Edwards proceeded to hit a pair of buckets and Erin Zampell a three-point play to push the NSU lead back to nine points.

Both teams came out hot in the first 12 minutes of the game as Valdosta State hit 11 of its first 22 field goal attempts while Nova Southeastern connected on seven of its first 15 shots. The Lady Blazers’ torrid shooting helped them their largest lead of the game, at 30-17 with 7:48 to play in the first half.

However, both squad cooled off the remainder of the half as the Lady Blazers connected on just one of its final 11 shot attempts while NSU connected on just two of nine the remainder of the half. The two Lady Shark baskets proved to be big as Newpher scored on a three-point play and eventually hit a three from the right corner to pull NSU to within seven points.

Matthews led Valdosta State with 12 points while Booker added eight points and seven rebounds. The Lady Blazers shot 36.4 percent from the field in the game as they connected on 20-of-55 field goal attempts and were hampered by 18 turnovers, 11 of which came in the second half of play.

Newpher led all scorers with 20 points as she connected on four three-pointers while Edwards added 14 points and eight rebounds for NSU. After shooting just 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from the field in the first half, Nova Southeastern connected on 13-of-21 second half shots (61.9 percent) and shot 48.9 percent from the floor for the game.

Valdosta State returns to action Thursday, December 31 at 5:00 p.m. when it travels to Albany, Ga. to face the Golden Rams of Albany State. The VSU men will also play Albany State, with tip-off of that game scheduled for 3:00 p.m.