No. 11 Spartan Women's Basketball set for Home Opener, Tampa Classic
TAMPA, Fla. - Riding its highest ranking in school history to open a season, the No. 11 University of Tampa women's basketball team is set to host its four-game, two-day Tampa Classic.
Friday, November 11
Game One: Florida Tech vs. No. 19 Union, 4:30 p.m.
Game Two: No. 11 Tampa vs. West Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 12
Game Three: Florida Tech vs. West Alabama, 1:00 p.m.
Game Four: No. 11 Tampa vs. No. 19 Union, 3:00 p.m.
The classic will feature four South Region opponents, with UT and Sunshine State Conference opponent Florida Tech welcoming the University of West Alabama and No. 19 Union University. Both non-SSC opponents are members of the Gulf South Conference.
Tampa, the preseason favorite to win the SSC, enters with a record of 1-2 following three games at last weekend's DII Tipoff Classic in Billings, Mont. The Spartans opened with a victory over Seton Hill, which was followed by losses to Montevallo and defending national champion and No. 1 Lubbock Christian University.
Reigning SSC Player of the Year Melijah Sullivan leads the Spartans, and was honored as the SSC Player of the Week for her performances at the Classic. She enters the weekend as UT's leading scorer at 16.7 points per game. Senior Dori Nagy is the other Spartan in double figures, averaging 13.7 points per game to go with a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game.
Florida Tech is set to opens its 2021-22 campaign after playing in the shortened SSC season last year where it finished 3-6 overall. The Panthers were picked to finish eighth overall in the preseason SSC coaches poll. Second-team all-SSC performer Fanny Paulin returns to lead Tech and was a constant fixture in Tech's starting lineup as she started all nine games and led the team in minutes played with 280 or 31.1 minutes per game. During her time on the court, she had 102 points, 33 rebounds, nine assists, 15 steals and four blocks. This helped her become the first player since 2016 to earn second-team honors.
Union is entering its season opener returning several starters from a 19-6 team last season that won the GSC Regular Season and Tournament Titles. Top returners Jaelencia Williams and Shanique Lucas were both named to the preseason All-GSC team as voted by the coaches. In the GSC Preseason Coaches' Poll, Union received 10 of the 13 first-place votes and 142 total points. Lee, the team Union defeated in last season's GSC Championship Game, was voted second with 126 points and one first-place vote. Valdosta State was voted third, just behind Lee with 122 points and two first-place votes. Montevallo rounded out the top four with 116 votes. All four of these teams advance to the NCAA D2 National Tournament last season.
UWA returns almost its whole roster with nine players from the 2020-21 season and added four new Tigers to the 2021-22 roster under head Rusty Cram. Key returners for the Tigers are Tazsa Garrett-Hammett and Bria Dent, who were named to the All-Gulf South Conference West Division Team for the 2020-21 season. The Tigers closed out the 2020-21 season with a 10-8 overall record and went 9-7 in GSC play. UWA made it to quarterfinals of the GSC Championship Tournament, but got knocked out 70-61 by Lee University.
All games will be played at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center, on the campus of UT. Tampa will offer both live stats and a broadcast of the game. Fans may follow at TampaStats.com and TampaSpartans.tv.