Spartans Fall to No. 12 Tritons in Tough Battle

TAMPA, Fla.  – The University of Tampa women's basketball team travelled to Eckerd College to take on the Tritons and lost in a close battle 59-51.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Tampa 51, Eckerd 59 
Records: Spartans (10-4, 5-2 SSC), Tritons (13-2, 7-0 SSC)
Location: McArthur Center | St. Petersburg, Fla.
All-time Series: Tampa leads the all-time series 71-18 with the Tritons.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1st Quarter | Senior Elena de Alfredo was the first player on the floor to score on a jumper. The Tritons quickly retaliated with a jumper of their own. Junior Griffin Dempsey sunk a deep three pointer assisted by de Alfredo to put the Spartans up early. The Tritons wasted no time as they began to challenge the Spartans with baskets of their own. Junior Morgan Lumb came off the bench to make a three pointer assisted by senior Jenny Horvatinovic. The Spartans offense caught rhythm as they continued to score points. UT kept the Tritons scoreless for the last 4:45 of the first quarter. The Spartans led 15-9 heading into the second quarter. Dempsey led all Spartans with six points. 

2nd Quarter | It was the Tritons who scored first to open up the second quarter of play, closing in on the Spartans six point lead. Dempsey struck again with another three point shot to put Tampa up by six points again. Junior Faith Sanders scored her first points on a jumper with 5:30 left in the quarter. The Tritons and the Spartans started to go basket-for-basket, neither team's offense letting up. Lumb was the last Spartan to score before halftime on a jumper, making the Spartans score 30-25.

3rd Quarter | The Tritons were on the board first with a jumper, cutting the Spartans lead to three points. The Spartans quickly rallied back on a jumper from Horvatinovic. Both teams continued to go shot-for-shot and the Tritons came within four points of the Spartans with just over three minutes left in the third. The Spartans were scoreless for two minutes until junior Karma Jeremie scored on a layup making the scored 39-34 with two minutes left on the clock. The Spartans held on to the 42-36 lead heading into the final quarter.

4th Quarter | Both teams remained scoreless for the first two minutes of the final quarter until the Tritons were fouled and shot one free throw to decrease the Spartans lead to three points. The Spartans and the Tritons continued to play a close game, UT never leading by more than four points. The Tritons made back-to-back baskets that would give them their first lead since the opening quarter. The Spartans tried to rally back but the Tritons late offensive run could not be stifled. The Tritons went on to win 59-51.  

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Jeremie led all Spartans with 12 points.
• de Alfredo was the second leading point scorer with 11. 
• As a team the Spartans shot 29.6 from the field.

UP NEXT:
UT will travel to take on the Lynn University Knights on Saturday, January 14th at 2:00 pm. Live stats and a live video webcast will be provided through www.tampaspartans.com.

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