Spartans Fall in SSC Championship Game

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa Spartans women's basketball team faced off against the Eckerd College Tritons in the Sunshine State Conference tournament championship game.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP

Final Score: Eckerd 65, Tampa 69

Records: Tampa Spartans (24-5, 19-1 SSC), Eckerd Tritons (24-5, 17-3 SSC)

Location: Tampa, Fla || Martinez Athletic Center

All-Time Series: Tampa still has a commanding lead in the all-time series with a record of 85-16.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

1st Quarter || The first quarter was evenly matched as the two teams would trade baskets throughout the quarter. The Tritons had the largest lead in the quarter as they lead by as many as four points, but the two teams would end the first 10 minutes tied.  || 19-19 T

2nd Quarter || The two teams would continue to trade blows as no team was able to establish a dominating lead. The largest lead would again be four points by Eckerd as they went up by that many at the 5:36 mark in the quarter. At the half, Melijah Sullivan was leading the way, as she had 11 points. || 32-31 EC

3rd Quarter || Eckerd was able to score the first four points of the half have their biggest lead of the game at five points. At the 5:17 mark, the Spartans were able to take back the lead as LaShayla Wright-Ponder would sink a jump shot to make the game 43-42. Eckerd was able to regain the lead and held it the remainder of the quarter as they were up by four after 30 minutes of play.  || 55-51 EC

4th Quarter || UT would continue to battle as they were able to tie the game back up at the 9:16 mark, as Kris Nelson would make a pair of free throws. The Spartans were unable to overtake the lead however as the Tritons would make shots down the stretch to claim the conference championship. Octavia Loll would play a big factor in the final quarter as she would score 11 of the 20 EC points. || 75-69

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Aliyah Abney would lead the Tampa offense as she had 21 points.
• Melijah Sullivan led the scoring for Tampa as she finished with 20 points.
• Dori Nagy would finish the game with 19 points and pulled in a team-high nine rebounds.

UP NEXT: The Spartans will await the selection show to find out their seedings for the NCAA South Region Tournament. The selection show will be tonight at 10:00 p.m. EST. Fans may watch at NCAA.Com

Follow UT Athletics: @TampaSpartans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.

Text Alerts: UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.

Front Row: Download the official app of UT Athletics on the Apple or Android store. Look for Tampa Spartans Front Row app to receive notifications from your favorite Spartan teams. The app is completely free.