Team boxing event Friday
The USA Knockouts will face the Mexico Guerreros in a World Series of Boxing match Friday night at Miccosukee Resort and Gaming.
The team-format, five-bout card will feature fights in the flyweight, lightweight, welterweight, light-heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions. The Guerreros currently lead Group B of the WSB with a 1-1 record while the Knockouts are 0-1 following their season-opening loss to Great Britain two weeks ago.
Admission to Friday’s match is free. The first bout starts at 8:30 p.m.
SANTOS A. PEREZ
Women’s Basketball
▪ Middle Tennessee 83, FAU 73: The host Owls (11-10, 3-7 C-USA) were led by Sasha Cedeno (16 points), and Melinda Myers and Ali Gorrell, who scored 15 points each, but lost to the Blue Raiders (14-7, 8-2), who shot 59 percent from the field and 64 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Morgan Robinson added 11 points for the Owls.
Middle Tennessee started the game on a 10-1 run and never allowed the Owls to lead. FAU cut the advantage to three on a Robinson three-pointer at the 5:06 mark of the first before the Blue Raiders went on an 8-0 run to go up 20-9. A layup with five seconds to play in the frame gave MT a 28-16 lead at the first break with the help of 20 points in the paint.
Neither team scored for the first 3:26 of the second before Cedeno made her first three to help the Owls whittle the lead to seven. Again, however, MT crafted a run of 14-3 to take a lead of 42-23. After quick strikes by the Owls, MT’s Ty Petty made a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Blue Raiders to the locker room up 45-28.
Softball
The Nova Southeastern softball team will open the season at the Eckerd College Spring Invitational taking place Feb. 5-7 in Clearwater. The Sharks’ first game is Friday at 7 p.m. against Colorado Christian.
The tournament, being held at the Eddie Moore Complex, will feature 15 teams including all of the Sharks' conference opponents. This weekend, NSU will see a mix of conference rivals and one never-before-seen opponent, including: Ursuline, Eckerd, Tampa and Lynn.
NSU enters the tournament with a completely new coaching staff and eight new players. Head coach Julie LeMaire took over the program in October and looks to improve on the Sharks 20-25 record from the 2014-15 season (7-17 SSC). This poses somewhat of a challenge as the team will only return four players from last year: sophomores Jessie Brown and Haley Gonzales, and juniors Katey Blummer and Dakota Villella.
This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 12:13 AM with the headline "Team boxing event Friday."