TAMPA, Fla. (January 4, 2025) - Women's basketball looked a tad rusty in their first game of 2025, falling to the Tampa Spartans 58-48 on Saturday. The loss moves the Tars to 6-6, 1-4 SSC on the season while Tampa improves to 12-3. 4-1 SSC.
After Tampa took an early lead, Rollins jumped ahead in the fourth minute on an
Emily McIntosh layup. The Spartans went on a quick scoring run in the middle of the first to open up a lead, but a jumper from
Claire Erickson and a three from
Kaitlyn Sanders with under a minute to go made it 19-15 at the end of one.
Rollins reclaimed the lead early in the second with five points from
Zai Mitchell. Meanwhile, the defense forced Tampa into three consecutive turnovers followed by four straight missed shots. The Spartans would fight back as Rollins turned into the cold team, hitting just one field goal in the final 2:43 of the half. The Tars trailed 30-25 at the break.
The third quarter saw Rollins tie things up once again, this time led by
Aaliyah Irizarry-Perez, who knocked down a triple and a putback to knot the score at 30. Sanders followed with a three-pointer at the 7:33 mark to put Rollins ahead by one, 33-32. Unfortunately, it would be the Tars' only made field goal for more than five minutes Tampa took advantage, and held a 42-35 lead at the end of the period.
Tampa controlled much of the fourth quarter, holding their largest lead of the game at one point when they were ahead 51-38. A pair of makes from Erickson helped cut it down to a seven-point deficit, but the Tars would not get any closer. The final score clocked in at 58-48.
Rollins struggled from the field in this one, shooting just 20-58 (35%) from the floor, including 4-21 (19%) from three.
Maddie Dillinger and Sanders each had eight points to tie for the team lead. Audrey Ramsey led all scorers with 16 points for the Spartans.
Next up for Rollins is a home game on Wednesday, January 8th against Saint Leo. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 pm from Warden Arena.
