Spartans Drop Tough Conference Road Match-Up To #25 Florida Southern

LAKELAND, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball team fell in a Sunshine State Conference top team match-up to the Florida Southern Moccasins by a score of 73-70 Wednesday night at the Jenkins Field House in Lakeland, Fla. Tampa falls to 19-6 on the season and 11-4 in the SSC as the Mocs improve to 21-4 on the year and 13-2 in the conference.

Balanced scoring power guided the Spartans to the opening advantage as Lindsey Watson started out hot from the field scoring Tampa's first eight points, including a desperation heave as a result of a late shot clock putting UT up 8-2 with 17:57 in the first half. Shooting an impressive 55.6 percent from the field as a team, Tampa would build up as much as a 13 point advantage (21-8) with 10:21 to go before the break. Hitting 55 percent from long range would be no surprise to head coach Tom Jessee as the team now leads all NCAA Division II teams in the category, shooting an impressive 43.9 percent as a squad. Michaela Hawley would find her feet for the Moccasins scoring 14 points in the first period to chip away at the Spartan advantage. A made 3-point attempt from Catriana Messina off of a quick hitter in the final seconds of the stanza would give Tampa a 37-29 lead at intermission to lead the charge by eight.

A quick 3-point field goal from Taja Green out of the break put UT up by 11 but would be answered by a 5-0 run from Florida Southern to trail by just six, 40-34 with 17:35 left to play. Taking the advantage 50-49 at 10:27 showing on the clock off of a Hawley layup, FSC took its first lead of the night. Tampa would tie the game back up knotting the score at 50 following a made free throw shot by Gianna Messina but would not be able to hold on to the score much longer as the Mocs put on a 15-5 run to take the game by 10 (65-55) with 3:16 to go.

Chipping away at the margin, the Spartans came within one point (71-70) following a pair of Watson layups and a G. Messina long range shot with just five seconds left in the game. A foul to stop the clock after the made 3-point shot from G. Messina put Chelsea Johnson, a 90 percent free throw shooter at the line as she sank both attempts to put her team up by three. A last second opportunity was unsuccessful as the Mocs stole away the game in the final seconds to clinch SSC the regular season championship.

Watson led the group in scoring for the third straight time ending the match-up with 23 points and one steal to go along with her 50 percent (10-20) field goal percentage. Also scoring double-digits was G. Messina adding 15 points and benefiting from 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Green rounded out the high scorers tallying 11 points while Jaleesa Harmon and Greta Bartkute each came away with eight in the competition. C. Messina tallied a team-best nine rebounds while aiding in the conversion of team-best five scores.

Tampa returns home Saturday, Feb. 26th at 2 p.m. for its final game of the regular season to play host to Florida Tech. At the game UT will honor its three seniors, Green, C. Messina and G. Messina for their hard work as it will be their last home game. The Spartans will look to steal a game back as the team fell short on the road in an overtime battle to the Panthers earlier this season by a 91-82 margin.

Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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