Messinas Stellar As #16 Tampa Beats Visiting Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. - Gianna and Catriana Messina scored a combined 37 points, guiding the No. 16 University of Tampa women's basketball team to a 63-39 victory over the visiting Barry Buccaneers on Saturday at the Martinez Center. The win improves Tampa to 17-2 overall and 7-1 in the Sunshine State Conference. Barry falls to 12-5 and 4-3.

Barry jumped out to a 14-6 lead with 14:24 remaining in the first half but the Spartans answered with a 15-1 run to take a 21-15 lead at the 4:26 mark. Particularly impressive during the string of UT points was Gianna who scored 11 points during the run, including three of her seven 3-pointers.

Adding nine points in the final minutes of the opening stanza, Tampa took a 30-18 advantage into the locker room at the midway point of the contest.

Gianna continued her long-range assault in the second half as she added three more treys. She punctuated her performance with a dazzling fadeaway 3-point jumper off the glass as the shot clock expired to finish 7-9 from beyond the arc. She compiled a game-high 23 points while also adding four assists.

Also hot from 3-point land in the second half was Catriana as she was a perfect 4-4, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the period. The junior picked up five assists - three of which came on baskets by her sister - and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Rounding out Tampa's double-figure scorers was Tiara Cook who finished the game with 11 points. She had her double-double streak snapped but did collect six rebounds.

The Spartans won the battle on the glass as UT outrebounded the Bucs by a 40-29 clip. Tampa was also stellar defensively, limiting Barry to shoot just 23.4 percent from the field. Though the visitors did connect on 10 3-pointers, they only added one other field goal in the game.

Tampa shot 41.8 percent for the game including a blistering 12-23 performance on 3-point attempts. UT was also strong in protecting the rock, giving up just eight turnovers in the contest.

UT will return to action next Saturday when the Florida Tech Panthers come to Tampa for a 2 p.m. contest. Tampa defeated Tech 75-57 earlier in the season.

Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.
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