Shooting in Stretch Gives Lynn Victory over Tampa

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking game on the road to Sunshine State Conference opponent Lynn University by a score of 54-53. The Spartans fall to 14-4 and 6-2 in the SSC while Lynn moves up to 15-4 and 6-2 to sit atop the conference.

Both teams suffered a poor shooting effort in the first half, with Tampa posting a 24.1 percent mark from the field while the Fighting Knights came in at 22.6. DeShaydia Mackey opened the game with a three-pointer, giving UT a 3-0 lead that lasted for nearly three minutes before Lynn scored the game's next basket.

After Lynn took its first lead of the half at 11-10, UT vaulted itself to a 6-2 run as it never trailed again in the half. The Spartans finished out the half while outscoring the Fighting Knights 5-2 to take a 22-18 lead to the half.

Tampa came out of the half and displayed energy from the beginning of the second half as it scored eight of the first 10 points of the half. UT then stretched its lead to double figures at 11:43 on an Angela Guiu three-pointer, which put the Spartans up 36-24.

The hot shooting of Lynn's Jade Williams kept the Knights in the contest as a pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Williams cut an 11 point UT lead to five at the 5:04 mark. Carly Golden came out of a timeout to hit another three, minimizing UT's lead to 45-43. The eight unanswered points by the Fighting Knights was stopped when Sheena Walton scored a layup at 4:00.

After a pair of Lynn free throws, Golden put the Knights back on top with a three pointer at 3:21 to give Lynn the 48-47 advantage. Following a Tampa timeout, Walton was fouled on a made shot and hit the free throw to put UT up 50-48. Lynn had an answer as it knotted the score at 50-50, before Walton came down the floor and nailed a top of the key jumper to put UT up 52-50.

The score stayed 52-50 in favor of UT until Lynn's Rachel Brockman hit a jumper with 46 seconds left to put even the contest. Tampa's Erica Woodard drew a foul on the next possession, and responded with one of two free throws. On a missed Lynn three-pointer, Liz Roth grabbed the loose ball for the Fighting Knights and was fouled. Roth then made both free throws to put Lynn up for good as Alexa Kane was unable to connect on the game winning shot.

Walton led Tampa with 15 points to go with nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Erica Woodard added 10 points and a team high 10 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double and her fourth of the season.

Alexa Kane led Tampa with three assists while Woodard, Walton, Mackey and Hailee Sullivan each had two steals.

The Spartans finished with a 29.8 mark from field goal range while Lynn connected on 29 percent of its shots. The Knights, who made four three pointers, connected on three long range shots in the final 5:05.

UT now heads home, where it will host Rollins College on Saturday at 2 p.m.