Spartans Overpower Knights in Battle

TAMPA, Fla.  – The University of Tampa women's basketball team travelled to Lynn University to take on the Knights and came out victorious with a score of 74-56.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Tampa 74, Lynn 56 
Records: Spartans (11-4, 6-2 SSC), Knights (8-7, 3-5 SSC)
Location: de Hoernle Sports Center | Boca Raton, Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa leads the all-time series record over the Knights 39-8.
Follow Us: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Vimeo

HOW IT HAPPENED:
1st Quarter | Junior Griffin Dempsey was the first player to score and opened up play on a deep three point jumper, assisted by senior Jenny Horvatinovic. The Spartans came out of the gates running as they jumped out to a quick lead over the Knights. Dempsey struck again with a three pointer that was assisted by junior Karma Jeremie that would put the Spartans up by eight points with just over seven minutes left in the quarter. A three pointer by senior Elena de Alfredo, followed by a Jeremie layup put the Spartans up by 13 points, the largest lead of the quarter. The Knights scored baskets that would close in on the Spartans lead, but the Tampa offense continued to roll. Junior Morgan Lumb shot a jumper that would solidify the first quarter score at 28-19. de Alfredo led all Spartans with nine points.

2nd Quarter | It was the Knights who scored first to open up the second quarter of play, closing in on the Spartans nine point lead. But Jeremie quickly responded with a layup to put the Spartans back up again. Teresa Kucera came off the bench to drain a three pointer and give the Spartans a 14 point lead. Both teams remained scoreless for three minutes until Jeremie hit a deep jumper that would put the Spartans up by 16 points. The Knights would score one more time on a three pointer before the quarter ended. At the half, the Spartans led the Knights 45-30. 

3rd Quarter | de Alfredo hit the boards first on a layup that was quickly retaliated with a layup by the Knights. Both teams remained scoreless for three minutes until Kucera ended the drought with a deep three point shot. Junior Faith Sanders and de Alfredo then contributed back-to-back three point shots of their own making the score 57-40 with just under two minutes left in the quarter. Horvatinovic scored on a layup to give the Spartans a 20 point lead heading into the final quarter.   

4th Quarter | The Spartans would take their largest lead of the game on a three point shot from de Alfredo with six minutes left on the clock. Both the Spartans and the Knights remained scoreless again for two minutes until the Knights scored again. The Knights would give a good effort to close in on the Spartan advantage but were unsuccessful in stopping the Tampa offense. The Spartans went on to win 74-56.     

INSIDE THE STATS:

• de Alfredo were the leading point scorer with 19 points. 
• Kucera was the second leading point scorer with 17 points.
• As a team, the Spartans shot 51.1 percent from the field.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• Kucera set a career high for points with 17.
• The Spartans have not dropped a game to the Knights since the 2011-12 season.

UP NEXT:
UT will host Barry University Wednesday January 18 at 5:30 pm. Live stats and a live video webcast will be provided through www.tampaspartans.com.

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