Strong Defense Leads Tampa To First SSC Victory

TAMPA, Fla – The University of Tampa Spartans lead the Barry Buccaneers from wire-to-wire to gain their first Sunshine State Conference victory of the year. The Spartans used a stout defensive performance to gain a 70-52 victory. UT now sits at 8-8 on the season and 1-4 in SSC play. BU now sits at 9-4 and 3-2 in SSC play.

Elena de Alfredo lead the way for Tampa, as the guard scored 20 points and picked up five rebounds. Ellen Nurmi scored a season high, as she netted 18 points to go along with four rebounds and assists.

Karama Jeremie also added double figures as she put up 10 points and seven rebounds. Angela Alvarez grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds on the night.

UT had a strong first half as they held a 33-20 after the first 20 minutes of play. Nurmi lead the charge as she recorded 11 first half points. De Alfredo added eight points while Alvarez scored six points off the bench.

The Spartans used strong defense in the opening half to dominate the pace of the game as they held Barry to just 17.1 percent (6-35) from the field, as the Bucs only made one basket inside the three-point line.

As a team, Tampa shot 39.4 percent (13-33) from the field and outrebounded Barry 27-25 in the opening half.

UT started the second half strong as they went on a 15-4 run to jump out to a 48-27 lead with four minutes to play in the third quarter.

The Tampa offense picked up in the second half as the Spartans were able to shoot 51.9 (14-27) percent from the field, and 63.6 percent (7-11) from beyond the arc.

UT outscored BU 32-12 in the paint and 11-10 in bench points. Tampa also played team basketball as they racked up 15 assists on the night.

The Spartans will be back in action on Saturday as they travel to Boca Raton to take on the Lynn Fighting Knights. The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 pm.

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