Tampa Drops Road Decision to Florida Tech

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The University of Tampa (8-10, 1-7) dropped a 69-57 decision against Sunshine State Conference opponent Florida Tech (12-6, 3-5) at the Clemente Center on Wednesday.

Tampa led by as many as nine points in the first half before taking a 26-25 edge to the break. The Panthers scored the first basket of the second half, taking a lead that it would hold for the remainder of the contest.

The frontcourt duo of Moriah Hodge and Jaleesa Harmon led the Spartans once again as the duo scored 18 and 12 points respectively. Point guard Illyssa Vivo also matched her former Indiana State University teammate with 18 points.

Harmon, a center, played all 40 minutes as did Kamari Smith, who finished with a season-high 10 rebounds to go with three steals, both team highs.

UT outshot the Panthers by a 45.7 to 37.3 mark, but was bit by 23 turnovers as the Panthers only had 13.The Spartans also allowed 15 offensive rebounds as FIT won the battle of the boards by a 38-30 margin.

Tampa returns home where it will host Lynn University on Saturday at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center. The game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Live stats and a video webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.tv.

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