
Moriah Hodge Leads Surging Spartans to Postseason with Another Victory
MELBOURNE, Fla. - In its regular season finale, the University of Tampa (18-8, 8-8 SSC) women's basketball team downed Florida Tech (16-10, 8-8 SSC) by a score of 52-43 at the Clemente Center.
Tampa continued its momentum as it moves to the postseason as this victory marks the fourth straight for head coach Tom Jessee's squad. The Spartans held a small lead for the majority of the game, taking a 25-22 advantage to halftime and pulling away in the final minutes.
UT would hold onto its lead as it never trailed in the second half. Owning a 41-36 lead with 4:41 to play, the Spartans dashed the hopes of the Panthers on senior day with an 8-0 run that put the visitors on top 49-36 with 3:17 on the clock.
Tampa senior Moriah Hodge scored a game-high 17 points while connecting on 6-of-9 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws on the day. The lone Spartan senior also grabbed eight rebounds and turned in three assists and two steals while being the only UT player to play all 40 minutes.
Shamika Williams came off the bench to score 10 points as Sadie Oyer grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds.
The Spartans found success in outshooting its opponent 37.0 to 27.1 percent as they also won the battle of the boards 41-36. UT also connected on eight 3-pointers as the Panthers were limited to just four.
The win also goes down as a victory over an NCAA South Region opponent as the Panthers were listed at No. 5 according to the NCAA's Wednesday release.
The Spartans will move on to the 2013 Sunshine State Conference Tournament, which will begin Thursday at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla. Please visit TampaSpartans.com for complete information on the Spartans in the SSC tourney.
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