Spartan Surge Overpowers Lady Chargers

LAKELAND, Fla. - The No. 16 University of Tampa (8-0) women's basketball team played its first game in 17 days and showed no lag with a 68-50 victory over the University of Alabama in Huntsville (5-4) in a neutral site contest played at Florida Southern College.

At 8-0, this marks the best Spartan start to a season since the Tom Jessee-coached 2009-10 squad opened at 9-0. The eight straight victories is also the second-most in program history to open a season. The program record for consecutive victories is 13, which also happened in 2009.

Huntsville hung with the Spartans for the first 15 minutes before UT broke a 21-21 tie with a 9-0 run to take a 30-21 advantage with 5:02 to go before halftime. Tampa would maintain its grip, taking a 34-25 lead to the break.

UT showed no signs of coming out flat in the second half as it built its lead to as many as 19 points. UAH got as close as five points, which was quelled by a 15-2 Spartan run to remove any doubt.

Shamika Williams paced the Spartans with a team-high 20 points as Illyssa Vivo chipped in 18. Sadie Oyer grabbed a team-leading 12 rebounds to go with nine points as she barely missed a double-double.

Williams and Vivo also added four assists apiece as the UT defense forced the Lady Chargers to a 2-for-17 clip from 3-point range. Tampa also forced 12 UAH turnovers compared to just seven for the Sunshine State Conference squad.

Tampa will played one more game in Lakeland, as it will meet the University of North Alabama on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.com.

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