Behind a 21-point first half Gianna Messina led the Spartans to a 84-46 win over the Nova Southeastern University Sharks in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament.
Messina connected on 7-8 shots from behind the arc, en route to scoring the game high 24 points. Angela Guiu led the game with eight assists, as well as tallying seven boards.
Nine Spartans scored points against the Sharks including Alli Corbett, the first points of her collegiate career. Sarah Wickham, Taja Green and Tiara Cook accompanied Messina with double digit scoring.
Cook racked up 14 of her 18 points in the second half, driving the dagger through the Shark heart.
The Spartans led by as many as 38 points with over 11 minutes to go in the game. NSU led only once the entire game, the score then was 2-0 before Tampa took the lead at 4-2.
Caitlyn Mitryk knocked down four shots, while Guiu swiped game-best two steals. The Tampa defense held NSU a 25.4 percent shooting percentage, while UT shot 50.8 percent.
The No.1 seeded Spartans will take on No. 5 seed Lynn University on March 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale, by Nova Southeastern University.
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