Spartans Take Round One of Jessee Bowl

TAMPA, Fla. -In a classic marital battle, The University of Tampa (7-5, 1-1 SSC) women's basketball team defeated Saint Leo University (6-6, 0-2 SSC) by a score of 61-30 to end the highly anticipated first-ever matchup between husband-and-wife head coaches. Tom Jessee coaches the Spartans and his wife Nikki is in her first year as head coach of the Lions.

Tampa continued with a four game winning streak to gain its first SSC victory. The game was played at the Bob Martinez Athletic Center.

The game started with both teams claiming quick buckets. That soon changed as the Spartans went into a hot streak shooting 48 percent from the field. UT scored 15 points off turnovers. Both Sarah Wickham and Jalessa Harmon scored double digits before half time.

Second half was brutal for the Lions. Saint Leo could not put the ball in the hoop and were put away early. Tampa scored 12 points off turnovers. The Lions scored less than 50 percent from the line compared to the Spartans 71.4 percent.

Tampa finished with a score of 61-30. Wickham and Harmon led the Spartans with 18 and 17 respectively. Chelsea Connelly led the Lions with seven points and a game high of 14 rebounds.

The Spartans will play again Saturday at Barry at 2 pm.

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

Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.