UT women’s basketball coach Tom Jessee called Melbourne’s Charles and Ruth Clemente Center “a very tough place to play.” The team got the message.
The No. 15 Spartans leaped to a fast start on the Sunshine State Conference schedule, defeating the Florida Tech Panthers (5-3, 0-1 SSC) 75-57 in Melbourne on Dec. 5.
Their school-record start was extended to 7-0.
Tampa (7-0, 1-0 SSC) battled through a close first half, using a late 16-5 run to take a ten-point lead into halftime.
They ran away with a 24-6 stretch early in the second half and never let FIT back into the game.
Four of the seven Spartans who scored reached double figures.
Tiara Cook, who was later named SSC Player of the Week, led UT with 19 points in 35 minutes.
She went to the foul line 18 times and was successful on 15 attempts. She finished with nine rebounds and five of the team’s eight steals.
Gianna Messina recorded her first double-double of the season after having three last season. She racked up 17 points and 11 boards.
Angela Guiu went 4-for-4 from three-point range en route to 16 points and Taja Green added ten more.
The Spartans shot 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) on three-pointers and 29-38 (76.3 percent) in free throws.
Florida Tech leading scorers Emi McCullough, Lynisha Nelson and Kaylin Jaichon totaled ten points apiece. Jaichon also led the Panthers with eight rebounds.
UT’s next scheduled game came at home against Palm Beach Atlantic Dec. 9.
This is a rematch from the Nov. 17 season opener, where the Spartans defeated PBA 64-37.
Brenton Burkett can be reached at bburkett@ut.edu.