Spartans Sail Away with Victory Over Tars

TAMPA, Fla.  – The University of Tampa women's basketball team travelled to Rollins College to take on the Tars and defeated them with a score of 75-62.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Tampa 75, Rollins 62 
Records: Spartans (9-3, 4-1 SSC), Rollins (7-5, 2-3 SSC)
Location: Alfond Sports Center | Winter Park, Fla
All-time Series: Tampa trails the all-time series 40-54 with the Tars.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1st Quarter | The Spartans and the Tars opened up play going basket for basket. It was senior Elena de Alfredo who sparked the offense with a three point jumper with 4:30 left on the clock. She would be followed by a Karma Jeremie layup and a three point jumper from Faith Sanders. The Spartans began to distance themselves from their opponent until the Tars started a run of their own. Back-to-back layups would bring Rollins within two points of the Spartans with under a minute left on the clock. The Tars fought back and tied the Spartans with 13 seconds left to make the score 19-19 heading into the second quarter. de Alfredo led all Spartans in the first quarter with eight points followed by Sanders who had five. 

2nd Quarter | The Tars came out hot in the second quarter as they took the lead over the Spartans. However, the Spartans began to chip away at the lead. Back-to-back three pointers by junior Morgan Lumb would bring UT within three points. Another deep three pointer from Lumb tied the score 31-31 with just under four minutes left in the quarter. The Tars would score once more on a layup and de Alfredo sunk a three point jumper to solidify the halftime score at 34-33. Lumb led all Spartans in the second quarter with nine points.

3rd Quarter | Jeremie was the first player to score with a layup. The Spartans kept the Tars scoreless for the first four minutes of the third quarter as they went on a 11-0 run. Rollins began to close the score gap with a layup and three pointer to come withing four points of the Spartans. Both teams remained scoreless for two and a half minutes until the Tars scored on a jumper. The Spartans retailated with a layup by Jeremie. The Spartans headed into the fourth quarter leading 51-47.

4th Quarter | Sanders was the first Spartan to score on a jumper which was followed by a three pointer by junior Griffin Dempsey, assisted by senior Jenny Horvatinovic. The Spartans increased their lead to 11 points after a three pointer by de Alfredo and a layup by Horvatinovic. A jumper by Dempsey gave the Spartans their largest lead of the game, a 13 point advantage. The Tars attempted at closing in on the Spartans lead but they were unsuccessful. UT was victorious with a score of 75-62.    

INSIDE THE STATS:

• de Alfredo was the leading point scorer with 18 points and six rebounds.
• Lumb and Jeremie were the next leading point scorers, both with 15 points. Sanders was close behind with 14 points.
• Four Spartans scored in double digits.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• This is the first time the Spartans have won at the Alfond Sports Center since the 2013-14 season. 

UP NEXT:
UT will host the Saint Leo Lions on Saturday, January 7th at 2:00 pm. Live stats and a live video webcast will be provided through www.tampaspartans.com.

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