Tampa Will Open SSC Tournament Play Against Eagles Tuesday Evening
TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball team enters the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament as the regular season SSC Champions with an outstanding conference record of 19-1.
The Matchup: University of Tampa Spartans (22-4, 19-1 SSC) vs. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagles (9-17, 7-13 SSC)
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 03 at 7:00 pm.
Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center | Tampa, Fla. | 400 N Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606
Series History: With the first meeting between the two team occurring in 2015, Tampa leads the series with a 6-4 mark. Tampa swept the Eagles in the two regular season match ups.
Last Time Out: Tampa defeated Lynn University in their last regular season game of the 2019-2020 year. The Spartans ended the season in style with a blowout over the Fighting Knights, 66-46. As a team, they shot greater than 50 percent from the field-goal with three of their starters scoring in double-digit figures. Sophomore Melijah Sullivan was the leading scorer with 19 points, shooting 8-14 from the field. Tampa's dynamic-duo, Dori Nagy and LaShayla Wright-Ponder, finished with 16 points each. Nagy also contributed 13 rebounds which resulted in a double-double.
About the Spartans: Tampa enters the contest at the top of the SSC, despite ranking seventh in the conference for offensive scoring per game, averaging 66.8 points per game. However, the Spartans lead the conference in scoring defense, only allowing 55.1 points per game. With home court advantage, Tampa holds a 10-2 home record this season with five of those games resulting in blowouts by 20+ points. Three Spartans are averaging double-digit figures this season. Nagy is the team's leading scorer with 16.2 points per game and 9.8 rebounds. Throughout the season, she has collected a total of 12 double-doubles. Right behind Nagy, with nine double-doubles is Wright-Ponder who is scoring 14.6 points per game and grabbing an average of 8.7 rebounds. Sullivan is also averaging 14 points per game with a field-goal percentage of 56.6.
About the Eagles: Embry-Riddle earned the eighth spot in the SSC with a conference record of 7-13. The Eagles last win came against Barry University on February 8th, 68-53. That game they shot better than 52 percent from the field, shooting 28-53. Embry-Riddle has two players averaging over 14 points per game, Sarah Jones and Nikki Tucker. They both have scored over 300 points this season. Also, on the offensive end, the Eagles rank third in the SSC for offensive rebounds per game with 10.5. Their leading rebounder is Tucker with seven rebounds per game. The Eagles play well defensively as they average about nine steals and two blocks per games.