No. 19 Florida Southern Deals Tampa SSC Tournament Loss

LAKELAND, Fla. - In a matchup between Sunshine State Conference rivals at the quarterfinals of the 2012 SSC Women's Basketball Tournament, No. 19 Florida Southern College ended the season of the University of Tampa with a 79-63 win.

The SSC regular-season champions and No. 1 seed Mocs improve to 22-5 on the year as UT's season ends with an 11-16 mark.

FSC took a 41-23 lead to the break and held its advantage throughout the second half as the lone UT lead was on the opening possession.

The shorthanded Spartans were led by junior guard Kamari Smith, who netted a career-high 19 points. She was joined by three teammates in double figures as Jaleesa Harmon (15), Illyssa Vivo (12) and Sarah Wickham (10) each tallied 10-plus points.

Smith also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds, securing her third double-double of the 2011-12 season. Vivo turned in a team-leading four assists while freshman Britny Taylor notched a pair of steals.

The game was evenly played across the stat categories, with FSC holding a slim edge in field goal percentage (46.8 to 42.6 percent). Tampa connected on 12 free throws, compared to 11 by the Mocs. UT did commit 14 turnovers as FSC committed just 10 while the home-court Mocs also drained 10 3-pointers.

UT will look forward to a 2012-13 season with the return of three of its top four scorers. The Spartans will also return a pair of healthy players who suffered season-ending injuries early in the season.