Historic Spartan Season Comes to End in NCAA Region Finals

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The University of Tampa (24-7) women's basketball team participated in the NCAA South Regional Tournament championship game for the first time in program history, and fell by a score of 56-53 to Nova Southeastern University (27-4).

In the Monday night battle against Sunshine State Conference nemesis NSU, the Spartans
had one key strategy on its mind, defense. The Spartans executed some of its best defense all year to impede the Sharks' offensive rhythm, especially from beyond the arc. UT would hold the home-court team to 16.7 percent from long-range.

The first half featured stifling defense by both parties, however UT managed to knock down key buckets from downtown, ending the half shooting 50 percent from 3-point range. The Spartans held the Sharks to shooting 18.2 percent from three, which is normally an integral part of Nova's flow.

Shamika Williams, the tournament's leading scorer, ended the period with seven points as the Spartans entered the locker room up 29-24.

The second half remained close, with Tampa building a seven-point lead on two occasions before the Sharks rallied to take the lead at 36-35 with 11:59 to play. That would mark the beginning of a seesaw battle down the stretch as a total of eight lead changes would occur before the end of regulation.

Tampa, which was hindered by foul problems for the majority of the half, saw its senior leader Illyssa Vivo foul out on a blocking call with 2:26 to play. Tampa would not be deterred, as Aisha Rodney would answer following a pair of successful NSU free throws. Rodney put UT on top 53-52 with 1:47 remaining.

On the next two Nova possessions, Tampa would force a turnover and missed shot, giving the visitors a one-point advantage with under a minute to play. Nova would grab the lead at54-53 on a Richelle Carach layup with 32 seconds on the clock. Following a Spartan timeout, Keke Jones would be called for a charging foul with six seconds on the clock.

Forced to foul, UT put NSU's Amanda Burakoski on the line, as she was successful on both shots. Nova then chose to foul, putting the Spartans on the line for a 1-and-1. A miss on the first free throw attempt was rebounded by Nova Southeastern, who ran the clock out for its second consecutive South Region championship.

Juliana Cavallaro led the Spartans with 13 points, followed by Ellen Nurmi with 11. Vivo had seven to go with a team-high eight rebounds. Taylor McVey also grabbed eight rebounds as Shamika Williams added a well-rounded seven points, six rebounds and team-high five assists. Williams and Cavallaro were both named to the all-tournament team for their play in the regional.

Tampa ends a historic season that saw the program's fifth Sunshine State Conference championship, a national ranking, and the furthest run in NCAA tournament play of any Spartan squad. UT also won a school-record 14 SSC games after winning a combined 12 league games the previous two years. In 2013-14, Tampa knocked off five nationally-ranked teams and won a school-best 14 straight games.