Balanced Scoring Attack Leads Tampa To Victory Over Tech
MELBOURNE, Fla. - The No. 16 University of Tampa Spartans continued its historic start to the season on Saturday by defeating Florida Tech in the Sunshine State Conference opener for both teams. The 75-57 victory gives UT (7-0, 1-0 SSC) its seventh consecutive victory to begin the year.
The first half of the contest was not indicative of how the game would turn out in the end as the score was tied on five occasions and the two teams exchanged the lead six times.
But the Spartans finished the half strong to gain a lead it would never relinquish again.
FIT (5-3, 0-1 SSC) was leading by a point with 6:59 remaining in the opening stanza before Tampa went on a 16-5 run to end the half and go into the locker room leading 38-28 at the break.
The visitors used another strong scoring in the first nine minutes of the second half to put the contest out of reach. Angela Guiu connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the 24-6 run and UT led by 28 with 11:36 remaining in the game.
The senior was not the only Spartan to have success from long-range as the Spartans connected on 10 of their 19 3-point attempts to shoot 52.6 percent from beyond the arc in the contest.
Guiu was perfect from downtown, nailing all four of her attempts, while teammate Gianna Messina added three.
Messina finished the contest with 17 points and a team-high 11 rebounds to record her first double-double of the year.
The game's leading scorer was Tiara Cook who compiled 19 points in the game, including a 15-18 effort from the charity stripe. She finished a rebound shy of matching Messina's double-double feat by collecting nine boards, and she also recorded five steals.
Guiu scored 16 in the contest while Taja Green added 10 as Tampa had four players that reached double figures on the evening. Green has now scored in double digits in six of UT's seven games.
The Spartans held Tech to a 31.8 percent success rate from the field in the win while shooting 45.0 percent themselves. The Panthers outrebounded Tampa 37-35.
Tampa now returns home for a Wednesday evening contest against Palm Beach Atlantic with the game scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. UT opened the season with a 64-37 decision at PBA on Nov. 17.
Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com. Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers eScores - a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events.