No. 18 Tampa Sends Seniors Off With Victory in Final Regular Season Home Game

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball team defeated the Saint Leo University Lions on Wednesday with an 18-point difference. 

Final: No. 18 Tampa Spartans 78, Saint Leo Lions 60 

Records: University of Tampa (25-5, SSC 16-3), Saint Leo University (16-11, SSC 11-8) 

Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center || Tampa, Fla.  

All-Time Series: The Spartans leads the Lions in overall series wins 89-16. 

HOW IT HAPPENED  

First Quarter: The first quarter opened with Dori Nagy scoring the first two points of the game. However, it took roughly a minute and a half for the Spartans to score again after the Lions had already put seven points on the board. This was a rough quarter due to the fact that a couple Spartan players were going down hard. Nagy, unfortunately, got pulled out of the game for the reason that a Saint Leo player landed on top of her leg. Fortunately, Mya Giusto was able to relieve her. Since Nagy went out with the injury, it looked to have ignited a fire under the Spartans. This quarter was in their favor due to the Lions having a travel called on them and receiving a shot clock violation. | Score: 19-16 Tampa 

Second Quarter: The second quarter began with Aliyah Abney scoring a three pointer. Giusto was able to shoot six points this quarter which happened to be the most on the team. Also, LaShayla Wright-Ponder had five rebounds to help her team. The Lions seemed to have put a stop to the Spartans, forcing them to be scoreless for three and a half minutes. Ultimately the Spartans were able to hold off the Lions from scoring no more than 15 points. | Score: 35-31 Tampa 

Third Quarter: Abney and Wright-Ponder were able to shoot a combined score of 15 points. For the past three quarters, the percentage of field goal percentages were under 50, but the Spartans found ways to enhance their game play successfully. The quarter ended with a 10 point difference, showing that the Lions were slowly trailing. | Score 57-47 Tampa 

Fourth Quarter: In the fourth quarter, the Spartans were able to score 21 points while their opponent was able to score about half of that. Each senior, besides Abney and Nagy, were able to add points to the scoreboard, which greatly improved their chances of finishing the game with a win. Giusto shot six points again this quarter, but this time, they were all free throw shots. The Lions were too late to catch up to the Spartans, even with their best efforts.| Final: 78-60 Tampa 

UP NEXT: The Spartans head to West Palm Beach to take on Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.