Seniors Go Out with Big Win in Regular-Season Women’s Basketball Finale
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa (16-10, 9-7 SSC) women's basketball team cruised to a 70-50 victory over Barry University (13-15, 5-11 SSC) in its regular season finale and final home game of the season.
Prior to the game, UT honored each of its three seniors. Among those seniors were four-year letterwinner Jenny Taptich, Catherine Matthews and Aisha Rodney. Each of the three earned playing time in the game.
The game took just over 10-minutes for the Spartans to pull away, going on a 12-1 run to grab a 23-12 lead with 7:33 to play until halftime. The Spartans would take a 16-point lead to the break at 37-21.
Barry chipped away at the Tampa lead in the second, coming as close as four points with a 42-38 margin at 13:25 to play in regulation. That prompted an 18-2 Spartan run over the next eight minutes, putting the game out of reach with a 22-point margin inside 6-minutes to play.
Juliana Cavallaro led all Spartans with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. The junior guard also connected on 4-of-6 from long-range, and 4-4 from the free-throw line.
Ellen Nurmi and Rodney were also in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. The Spartans shot 43.6 percent from the field, while holding the Buccaneers to a 29 percent clip.
Tampa will open up Sunshine State Conference tournament action on Thursday against Florida Tech in a 4-versus-5 matchup at 2:30 p.m. The 2015 tourney is being played at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla. The teams split the regular-season series, with each winning on their home courts.
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