Nova Southeastern Edges Tampa in SSC Clash

TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 15 University of Tampa (11-3, 2-3 SSC) women's basketball team took its second consecutive loss in a 68-61 setback against Nova Southeastern University (12-3, 4-1 SSC) in a Sunshine State Conference game inside the Martinez Center.

The teams traded off first-half advantages, with Nova holding a six-point edge before the Spartans went up seven with 3:48 before half.

After taking a 36-35 lead to the break, Tampa was held without a field goal for nearly five minutes as the Sharks built a nine-point lead. The Spartans responded with a 7-0 run before Nova would push ahead with a six point run of their own.

Freshman Juliana Cavallaro cut the Nova lead to 61-59 on a 3-pointer with 2:07 to play, as the Sharks would respond with a 3-pointer and a free throw to go up six points with 1:30 to play. NSU would seal the game, making 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute.

Moriah Hodge led Tampa with 18 points, as Illyssa Vivo pitched in 16. Cavallaro added 13 as starting point guard Shamika Williams played the first nine minutes before suffering an injury that sidelined her for the remainder of the contest.

Vivo led the Spartans with nine rebounds and three assists as the Spartans shot 55.6 percent for the game. Nova, which connected on 10 shots from 3-point range, finished at a 38.9 percent clip.

The Spartans will now play a pair of SSC road games, beginning Wednesday at Florida Southern. The game will tip at 5:30 p.m. Live stats and a webcast will be available through TampaSpartans.com.

Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans), Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans), YouTube (youtube.com/utathletics) and Instragram (tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.