Tampa Hits Road For 31-Point Win at Rollins

WINTER PARK, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball team defeated the Rollins Tars on Wednesday.

Final: No. 21 Tampa Spartans 69 Rollins College Tars 38

Records: University of Tampa (23-5, SSC 14-3), Rollins College (6-17, SSC 3-15)

Location: Harold & Ted Alfond Sports Center || Winter Park, Fla. 

All-Time Series: The Spartans trail the Tars in overall series wins 51-56.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

First Quarter: The first quarter opened with the Kayla Bonilla scoring the first points of the game. The Spartans scored eight-points before the Tars could put something on the board. Dori Nagy, Bonilla, and Aliyah Abney each scored, putting pressure on their opponent. There was a shooting percentage of 23.5 for Rollins, which gave Tampa the advantage. As the quarter went on, the Tars found a way to close the gap, ending the quarter with a four-point difference.|| Score: 14-10 Tampa

Second Quarter: The second quarter began with Audrey Ramsey scoring a three-pointer to put the Spartans in a seven-points lead. As Rollins would score, Tampa would then score, not giving Rollins any chance to catch up. At the three-and-a-half-minute mark, the Spartans were ahead by 12 points and were leaving the Tars scoreless for a little over two minutes. Nagy was able to earn eight points with LaShayla Wright-Ponder right behind her with five points shot. Abney and Nagy were able to successfully execute 2 free throw attempts. There was an increase in Rollins shooting percentage, but that was no stop to Tampa winning the quarter. II Score: 32-21 Tampa

Third Quarter: For the third time this game, Tampa was able to get on top by scoring first in the quarter. Bonilla had a terrific quarter, scoring nine points in total which included 3-4 three-point shots and 3-4 field goal shots. Due to missed layup attempts by Rollins for two minutes and a half, the Spartans were able to add another six points to the scoreboard. Although, Rollins scored the most number of points compared to other quarters in this game, their comeback efforts did not affect the Spartans. II Score 48-35 Tampa

Fourth Quarter: After a minute and a half of missed opportunities to score, Nagy made a layup to get something going. At the two minute and 42 second mark, Rollins was finally able to add points to the board. The Spartans however put a complete halt to the Tars, only letting them score that one time. Mya Giusto had a fantastic quarter after only playing seven minutes in total for the previous quarters. She went 3-3 in field goals and 2-2 in three pointers. There was no chance for Rollins to come close to the Spartans after a quarter like the 4^th.  II Final: 69-38 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS 

• Nagy and Bonilla scored a team-leading 14 points each
• Nagy lead the Spartans in rebounds with 10 and lead the Spartans in playing time, recording 35 minutes

BEYOND THE BOX

• With the victory, the Spartans remain one game ahead of Florida Southern for first in the SSC.
• Tampa is approaching the program record for wins in a season, which was 26 in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
• UT head coach Tom Jessee is approaching another career mnilestone as he currently has 396 victories at Tampa.

UP NEXT: The Spartans head back to their home court to take on Florida Institute of Technology on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

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