Box Score TAMPA – Florida Southern was unable to recover from a second-half run by the University of Tampa as the Moccasins fell to the Spartans, 63-52, at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center Wednesday night.
Leading 41-40 with 9:19 to go, the Spartans (11-5, 4-2 SSC) went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to run away with the lead and the win.
The Spartan run was fueled by a pair of 3-pointers. The first trey, scored by Ellen Nurmi at 7:33, gave her team a 46-40 lead. Vanessa Sylvain sunk the second 1:34 later to increase Tampa's advantage to nine, 51-42.
A layup from Juliana Cavallaro, followed by a two free throws from Aisha Rodney, gave Tampa its largest cushion of the night at 13 points, 55-42.
Rodney scored a game-high 20 points for Tampa.
Tampa took it to the Mocs (8-7, 2-4 SSC) early and often in the paint. Eight of the Spartans' first nine points came off layups; the other point was scored from the foul line on an and-one play by Shanica Baker.
The Spartans outscored the Mocs 34-to-20 in the paint.
After starting 5-for-6 from the field, the Spartans allowed the Mocs to get back into the game by shooting 6-for-21 to finish the first half.
Senior guard Cashala Thompson (Tucson, Ariz.) drained a trey midway through the period to cut the deficit to 16-10. That basket tied her for sixth on school's all-time list for career 3-pointers, drawing her even with Stacey Ungashick (1989-1993). Thompson would take sole possession of sixth place with a second-half 3-pointer.
After a Tampa free throw, junior guard Ali Sanders (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.) scored consecutive buckets to make it a three-point game, 17-14.
Jensen Blassage (Rockford, Ill.) drove to the basket and drew a foul from Rodney, allowing the freshman guard to close the first half with an and-one play. Her layup and foul shot made it 25-21 in favor of the Spartans at the break.
The Mocs raced out of the locker room in the second half to take their only lead of the contest. Blassage drove along the baseline and deposited a layup 52 seconds into the period. Forty-two seconds later, Thompson scored her second trey of the game and the Mocs went ahead by one, 26-25.
Sophomore forward Christin Strawbridge (Lakeland, Fla.) knotted the game at 28- and 30-all with layups on back-to-back Moccasin possessions, but Tampa's Candace Martino killed the momentum with a wide-open corner three.
Blassage netted jumpers at 12:48 and 10:27, both times bringing the Mocs within two.
Junior guard Sydni Payne (Conyers, Ga.) cut the deficit to one with a jumper of her own before the Spartans' game-winning run.
Blassage finished with a career-high 11 points; she was 5-for-7 from the field. Strawbridge, Thompson and senior guard Syerra Davis (Tolleson, Ariz.) each scored eight points.
Florida Southern will continue its two-game road swing with a 2 p.m. matchup against Lynn in Boca Raton on Saturday, Jan. 24.
