The University of Tampa women’s basketball team had its 12 game win streak, as well as its 25 home game win streak snapped last Wednesday against Florida Southern, 77-72. In a back and forth game, the Spartan defense let them down in the closing minutes.
“You’ll score on them [Florida Southern]. They don’t value defense as much as we do, but we just couldn’t get many defensive stops, especially in the end. The last 1:27 of the game showed our inexperience and youth. We panicked, but we will move forward,” said Coach Tom Jessee.
Senior captain Gianna Messina echoed Jessee’s frustrations regarding the team’s defensive effort. “Our defense was a major problem. They had a lot of open three’s, and they even missed a few. They could have beat us by more,” she said.
Florida Southern shot 13-27 (48 percent) from three point range in their five point victory. The win streak meant a lot to the players and to Coach Jessee, but they know they can always start another streak.
“The streak was a picture of what we said we wanted to do. We wanted to build a program, something that is consistently good. I think we have done that, and as long as we protect our home court, we will be okay,” said Coach Jessee.
Jessee’s mentality has been instilled into the senior leadership.
“It’s always hard losing to a conference rival, and that was the first time we lost to Florida Southern while I’ve been here. The 25 game home win streak went back a long way and it was awesome to be a part of it, but you can’t dwell on the past. Besides, we’ve already started a new streak after we beat Nova Southeastern on Saturday,” said Messina.
Trailing 34-22 at half against Nova, the Spartans needed something for them to snap out of the last game and a half. Coach Jessee gave a speech at halftime that woke them up. The Spartans erupted for a 57-point second half to win 79-64.
“It was like opposites. They shot lights out in the first half and not so good in the second half, and we shot poorly in the first half and were lights out in the second half,” said Jessee. The Spartans went 13-19 in three point attempts in the second half, and went on to win by a comfortable margin.
“We have a lot of shooters on our team, but you don’t want to fall in love with the three. That’s what hurt us against Florida Southern,” said Messina. Florida Southern hit 13 three pointers in their victory over Tampa, many of which were uncontested.
“Nowadays, most players are a three point player or a layup player. The mid-range game is not as prevalent. I think we’ve done a good job at not settling for three’s, and not forcing them. We’ll take what they give us, and it’s important to know that just one make can give our shooters plenty of confidence,” said Jessee.
“We play Florida Tech Wednesday on the road. That’s a tough game and they’re 5-2 in the SSC, 16-3 [overall] and undefeated at home. So that could be a big win.”
John Hilsenroth can be reached at jhilsenroth@spartans.ut.edu.