Tampa Women's Basketball Rolls Over Ave Maria

TAMPA, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's basketball team (5-2) pushed its home win streak out to 22-straight with a victory over Ave Maria (5-5) by a 79-58 margin Wednesday evening inside the Bob Martinez Sports Center.

The Spartans came out of the gate on fire as they were able to control the entire half shooting an impressive 61.3 from the field. Following a Nadia Givens trey in the first period, Tampa enjoyed as much as 29 point lead with 11:02 remaining in the stanza. Taja Green had a particularly successful half as she was able to hit 17 points in just 16 minutes for the Spartans, connecting on 8-9 field goal attempts. At the expiration of the period, UT sprinted into the locker room with a 21 point advantage over AMU.

During the second portion of the competition, the Gyrenes cut its deficit to a 17 point margin after an Amy Myler layup with 10:39 remaining, but would never be able to break through the double digit barrier.

Tampa scored 32 of the 79 points in the paint while hitting 60 percent (12-20) from the 3-line. UT's defense was the deciding factor in the match-up forcing Ave Maria to a 36.9 field goal percentage while also establishing 13 more total rebounds than its opponent.

Green tied her career high with 25 points hitting 11-15 of her attempts as she was just shy for the second game in a row of a double-double collecting nine rebounds. Gianna Messina registered her second straight double-double of the season tallying 15 points and pulling down 10 boards. Sarah Wickham provided a spark off the bench also tabbing double digits ending the night with 11. Senior Catrianna Messina led all Spartans in assists for the second game in a row dishing out six as Lindsey Watson produced a team-high three steals.

Tampa hits the road Saturday, Dec. 18th as the team travels to play Saint Augustine's in the Florida Southern Tournament held in Lakeland, Fla. The all-time series record is tied (1-1) between the two teams as UT will look to push its four game winning streak out.

Live stats and a webcast will be available through www.tampaspartans.com.

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