Piller Goes for 30 as Spartans Win Final Game in Canada

British Columbia, Canada – The University of Tampa's Women's Basketball team faced off against the hosts of the CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic, Simon Fraser University. The SFU Red Leafs are the only college athletics program in Canada that competes in the NCAA, joining in 2010. The #4 Spartans were coming into this matchup 2-0 on the weekend and wanted to finish the Canadian Classic on a high note. 

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: #4 Tampa 60, Simon Fraser 51

Records: #4 Tampa 3-0, Simon Fraser 2-1

Location: Langley Events Centre | Langley, B.C, Canada

All-time series: This was the first ever meeting between these two programs, Tampa now leads the all-time series 1-0.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

FIRST HALF: In the final game of the CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic, the Spartans did not waste any time to showcase why they are a top five team. Defensively, the steller zone defense from Tampa forced two early steals and Zoe Piller went right to work on the glass. On the other side of the court, Olivia Davis, Marissa McDonald and Sariana Rodriguez kept their hot hands from yesterday and hit key shots to help Tampa jump out to an early 10-2 lead. To finish the first quarter, the Spartans carried on with their elite defensive play and score in bunches as the lead ballooned to 12. (19-7 Tampa). After shooting over 70% as a team in the first quarter, the Spartans continued to be efficient in the second. Zoe Piller again would snag multiple rebounds and was able to convert a few second chance opportunities. Despite the offensive success SFU would not go away quietly and were able to find success of their own. The Red Leafs would hit four three pointers along with multiple tough layups to slowly claw back to a one possession deficit with just two minutes left in the half. In the final seconds, Zoe Piller would make one final strong play on the boards to draw a foul and bump the lead back up to five. Piller would shoot 7-8 from the field and finish with 16 first half points to go along with five boards. 

Score: 35-30 Tampa

SECOND HALF: After giving up a game high 23 points in the second quarter, the Spartans knew they needed to make halftime adjustments. They did just that by creating more steals with active hands in passing lanes and were able to solidly contest the Red Leaf shooters. These adjustments coupled with more dominant play from Zoe Piller helped the Spartans extend the lead back to double digits at 41-30 with seven to go in the third quarter. The elite defense continued for most of the quarter, not allowing a Red Leaf basket until the midway point of the quarter and held SFU to just 25% from the floor. By the end of the third quarter Zoe Piller had achieved a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. At the start of the fourth quarter the Red Leafs came out and sank two of their first three shots to close the lead to seven. However, Audrey Ramsey would get hot and go for seven straight points to shut down any thoughts of a comeback. Zoe Piller would hit the 30 point mark on a contested turnaround jumper that put the Spartans up 60-44 with five minutes left to play. Both sides would trade baskets for the remainder of the game and Tampa would close out the weekend with a win against the Red Leafs. 

Final: 66-51 Tampa

INSIDE THE STATS:

• Zoe Piller recorded her second double-double of the season dropping 30 and 12

• Audrey Ramsey drops 15+ points for third game in a row (16 tonight)

• Tampa finished the game shooting an efficient 53% from the field 

• Defensively the Spartans combined for 8 steals (Season High) 

UP NEXT: This match concluded the CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic in Langley, British Columbia Canada in which Tampa swept all three of their opponents. The #4 ranked Spartans will have just under a week to prepare for the teams home opener against Clark Atlanta on Friday, November 8th at 12:30pm. 

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