Spartans Remain in Contention For League Title With Victory Over Rollins
WINTER PARK, Fla. - The University of Tampa avenged an earlier loss to Rollins, defeating the Tars 60-54 on their home court. The Spartans are now 17-6 on the season after winning its seventh consecutive game, and improve to 9-3 in Sunshine State Conference play. Rollins drops to 17-5 on the season and 8-3 in league play.
Tampa, who never trailed, took its largest lead of the game with a 27-10 lead on a DeShaydia Mackey three-pointer at the 9:09 mark of the first half. The Spartans eventually took a comfortable 36-22 lead into the half after Angela Guiu hit a long three-pointer in the final seconds of the half.
The Tars fought back in the second half, scoring the first seven points of the half to cut the lead to seven points at 36-29. From that point, it was a game of spurts with the Spartans leading by as many as 10 points and as few as three.
With Tampa leading 45-42 with just under nine minutes remaining, the Spartans went on a 7-0 run to lead 52-42 with 6:34 to play. The Tars chipped into the lead once again, cutting the advantage to four with 2:44 to play before Sheena Walton and Brittany Ridley each made a pair of free throws to put the game out of reach.
Alexa Kane led all scorers with 16 points while also grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. The Orlando native also added a pair of steals while playing all 40 minutes.
Erica Woodard added 14 points with four offensive rebounds while Sheena Walton also registered double figures with 11 points. Walton also added to her league high blocks total with four blocked shots.
The Spartans are now off for a week before hosting Florida Southern on Wednesday, Feb., 14 at 5:30 p.m at UT's Bob Martinez Sports Center.