MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - Red-shirt senior Jordan Tully connected on 11-of-13 shots and scored 28 points to lead Nova Southeastern University to a 77-74 victory over Daemen College here tonight in opening round action of the Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic. The four-team tournament is being hosted by Barry University.

The loss overshadowed an outstanding individual effort by Daemen's Tiara Filbert (Batavia, N.Y.). The red-shirt junior connected on 13-of-20 shots overall (4-of-8 from three-point land) and scored a career-high 38 points. She becomes the first Daemen player to score over 35 points in a game since Raeann Stilwell netted 36 on Jan. 6, 2014. Filbert's 38 points were just seven shy of tying the school-record for points in a game (45) set by Sarah Soroka on Dec. 22, 2010. Her 38 points also ranks as the fifth most by a NCAA Division II player this season.

It marked the first-ever meeting between the NCAA Division II programs. NSU, a member of the Sunshine State Conference, has been one of the more successful NCAA Division II programs over the past seven years—having won 154 games (22 per year) with four NCAA Tournament Regional crowns and six NCAA Tournament appearances. The Sharks posted a 21-12 overall record last year and claimed the NCAA Tournament South Region championship.

Daemen, which entered the game ranked seventh in the NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) East Region media poll, saw its five-game winning streak come to an end and dropped to 5-2 on the year. NSU, which was ranked 10th nationally in the D2SIDA preseason media poll, improved to 2-3.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Daemen held a 13-12 lead seven minutes into the game when the Wildcats got a layup by junior Caroline White (Fairport, N.Y.) and a three-pointer by senior Jordan Heinold (Hamburg, N.Y.) to take an 18-12 lead. Daemen would go scoreless over the final 1:39 of the first quarter and the Wildcats took an 18-16 lead into the second quarter.
• The Daemen lead was back to six points, 24-18, after Filbert drilled a three-pointer with 8:26 left before halftime, but the Sharks answered with a 10-2 run and took a 28-26 lead following a layup by Tully with 4:43 left in the quarter. The teams traded points the rest of the quarter and NSU took a 40-37 lead into the break.
• NSU held a 47-42 lead just over three minutes into the third quarter, but Daemen outscored the Sharks 19-5 over the next 4:32. Filbert scored nine points during the run, and her layup with 2:09 left in the quarter capped the rally and gave Daemen its largest lead of the game at 61-52. Daemen failed to score over the final two minutes of the quarter and NSU cut the lead to three points following a conventional three-point play by Tully with 1:48 left and a triple by junior Hailey Conley with just nine seconds left in the quarter.
• NSU tied the game at 61-61 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, but the Sharks never took the lead until senior Iva Ilic drilled a contested three-pointer with nine seconds to play that gave NSU a 74-71 lead. Filbert hit two free throws two seconds later to make it 74-73, before Tully swished a pair from the charity stripe to once again give NSU a three-point lead, 76-73. White made one-of-two from the free throw line with two seconds left, and Tully closed out the scoring by hitting one of two free throws with a second remaining.
• Filbert played 39 of a possible 40 minutes and also totaled four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Her previous career-high of 25 points was set last February during a win at Molloy College.
• White helped the Daemen cause, as she connected on 5-of-7 shots and totaled 13 points and six rebounds. Heinold added nine points and seven boards, while graduate student Ashli Jeune (Westhampton, N.J.) contributed seven points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sophomore Katie Titus (Penfield, N.Y.) grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
• Conley finished with 19 points for NSU, while red-shirt junior Claire McMahon added seven points, 10 rebounds and five assists. 
• Daemen connected on 23-of-62 (375) shots overall and made 9-of-28 from downtown. Free throws hurt the Wildcats, as they converted just 14-of-25 from the charity stripe. NSU shot 55-percent (17-for-31) from the field in the first half and finished 31-of-60 (52%) from the field overall. The Sharks made just 5-of-19 from three-point land and made 10-of-16 from the free throw line.
• Daemen held a slim advantage in points off turnovers (16-12) and second chance points (17-9), while the Sharks posted a commanding 52-28 edge in points in the paint.

GAME NOTES

• Daemen returns three starters and seven players from last year. The Wildcats are coming off their most successful season since transitioning to NCAA Division II. Daemen posted an 11-game winning streak, won 14 of its final 15 regular-season games, posted a 15-3 league record and finished 18-10 overall.
• Daemen is now 19-4 over its last 23 games dating back to last season.
• Tonight marked just second time an opponent has shot over 50-percent in a game against Daemen this season. The first time was a season-opening 77-70 loss to Stonehill when the Skyhawks shot 57-percent  (31-of-54) from the field.
• Filbert is averaging a team-high 14.4 points and now stands just 11 points shy of 700 for her career. She has totaled 689 points in 64 career games.
• Heinold recorded her 125th career three-pointer and her 300th career rebound in the game.

UP NEXT
The tournament continues tomorrow (Nov. 30) when the Wildcats square off against the host Buccaneers. Barry (1-3) suffered a 60-41 loss to Alaska-Anchorage in the other first-round game today.


Daemen College features the only NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.