Walton Leads Tampa Over West Florida

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball team failed to put away West Florida, but held on for a 56-42 victory over the visiting Argonauts. The Spartans are now 8-2 on the season as UWF falls to 5-6.

After getting out to a 9-0 lead to begin the game, West Florida chipped away at the margin to come within three points in the first half. After taking their first double figure lead of the contest with a Hailee Sullivan three-pointer at 5:25, the Spartans took a 16 point lead to the half.

Tampa held on to their lead in the second half, though West Florida cut the lead to single digits on two brief occasions in the second half. Leading 50-42 with 2:40 remaining, Tampa then went on a 6-0 run to finish the game.

Sheena Walton continued her impressive play as she led all scorers with 16 points. She also paced UT with 10 rebounds and six blocked shots. Tampa's all-time blocks leader went 5-6 from the field and 6-7 from the free-throw line.

Alexa Kane and Erica Woodard also scored double figures, with each netting 10 points. Woodard narrowly missed a double-double as she finished with nine rebounds.

Angela Guiu, DeShaydia Mackey and Woodard each held the team high with four assists while Alexa Kane had three steals for the Spartans.

UT outshot the Argonauts by a 41.2 to 23.6 percent clip on the game. The Spartans also had 10 blocks, compared to zero for the Argonauts. Both teams failed to capitalize on turnovers as the teams combined for 38 on the day, 22 by UT and 16 by UWF.

The Spartans now have a 21 day break before hosting Nova Southeastern on Saturday, January 5 at 2 p.m.