Virginia Union University's Shareka McNeill scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Lady Panthers to a 79-68 win over host Nova Southeastern University on the first day of the NSU Thanksgiving Classic on Friday, November 23, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

McNeill hit 12 of 22 shots from the field including two three-pointers while also dishing off a team-high six assists in the win.

VUU's Nicole Floyd scored 22 points, hitting on 10 of 17 shots.

Virginia Union also got a double-double from Jasmine Carter, who scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the win.

"I'm real proud of how our Lady Panthers played today," said VUU Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert.  "They really had to guard the three-point line because of the style of play of Nova Southeastern.  We give them a lot of credit because they made us step up our defense.  We were led today by the tough play of Shareka McNeill and Nicole Floyd.  I couldn't be more pleased with how our team has fought on the road.  To be a championship team, you must be able to win on the road."

The defense of the Lady Panthers continued to be stellar.  Nova Southeastern shot only 37.9 percent from the field (22 of 58 shots) compared to the 50 percent VUU shooting (30 of 60 shots).

The win kept VUU perfect at 5-0 while Nova Southeastern dropped to 2-2.

Virginia Union will play Barry University at 12:00 p.m. on the second day of the NSU Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday, November 24.

The game can be viewed at vuusports.com.