Florida Tech Holds Off Tampa in Tight SSC Game

TAMPA, Fla. - In a game that went down to the wire, the University of Tampa (12-5, 3-5 SSC) women's basketball team came up short by a 58-54 score against Florida Tech (14-4, 6-2 SSC) in a Sunshine State Conference game.

The Panthers took a 29-24 lead to the half, marking their biggest advantage of the contest as UT also led by as many as six in a close first half. FIT's Kayk Wilson connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give her team a five-point edge at the break.

Florida Tech led for the first 19 minutes of the second half until UT's Illyssa Vivo knotted the score at 52-52 with 58 seconds to play. The Panthers would respond with a layup and force a Tampa turnover to regain possession. FIT would miss the front-end of a free throw, but grab their own rebound and convert the next four free throws over the next two possessions to clinch the victory.

Catherine Matthews led all Spartans with 15 points, connecting on five 3-pointers. Illyssa Vivo turned in 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds and five assists as Moriah Hodge also pulled down seven boards.

The Spartans are back in action on Saturday at home against Palm Beach Atlantic University in a non-conference game. The contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available through TampaSpartans.tv.

Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.