Tampa's women sit alone atop the Sunshine State Conference at 4-0 after setting a school record with its 10th consecutive win Wednesday against Florida Tech.
By DAVID NORRIE
Published January 18, 2005
To extend the streak and remain undefeated in the league, the Spartans will have to come up with a big performance in a place where they haven't had much success, at Florida Southern.
But the Moccasins, winners of nine SSC tournament championships, are in an unfamiliar place - fourth, having lost two of their past three conference games.
"You can throw records out the door in rivalry games and in this conference road wins are tough to come by," Tampa coach Tom Jessee said. "They've had some injuries that have hurt them early but when at full strength, like they are now, they are as good as anybody."
Florida Southern (7-8, 3-2) is 45-22 all-time against Tampa and took both of last season's meetings by 25 and by 27 points. In 2002-03, Jessee's first year at UT, the Spartans took two of three against the Moccasins including a 62-55 win in the NCAA South Region Tournament. That season both teams went 11-3 in the SSC, splitting the title.
"It's a huge rivalry," said Florida Southern coach Diane Foli . "Going into the year I'd say we had a edge but as things have played out, we're coming off a loss and Tampa comes in riding high and confidence plays a huge factor in outcomes of ballgames. Last year they were playing with a lot of freshmen and took some licks, I know they're hungry and playing good basketball right now."
One matchup that might decide the outcome is Tampa's low post players against three-time All-American Lucresia West . She was last season's SSC Player of the Year, finishing second in the league in scoring (21 points a game), led the Moccasins in points 22 of 29 games and posted 26 and 33 against the Spartans. Through 15 games this season, she leads the SSC at 22.5 ppg.
Tampa (13-2, 4-0) counters with sophomore Jamie Skinner at forward and redshirt freshman Shaneisha Walton at center. Both are among the league's top 10 in rebounding and Walton leads the SSC in blocked shots, averaging 2.3 a game. At 6 feet 1, reserve center Yoshiko Ozawa gives Jessee a third option guarding West.
"They bring a veteran ballclub with an inside game good as anybody around," Jessee said. "But we don't preach stopping any particular person, it's a team sport. We want to be best team, not the best individuals."
The women's matchup is big, but the men's basketball rivalry between Tampa (11-4, 2-2) and Florida Southern (11-4, 2-3) is second to none. Since UT resumed its program in 1983, the teams have met eight times in the conference title game with the Moccasins wining five.
FSC also leads the regular-season series 39-22, but the average winning margin is only three. That pattern held up last season as FSC edged UT by three at home and by a basket at the Bob Martinez Sports Center. SSC Player of the Year Chris Brooks was largely responsible for both Moccasin wins, leading them with 24 and 18 points.
With Brooks having graduated and Tampa replacing five seniors as well, this season's first meeting figures to look much different as the two teams carry more freshmen on their rosters, UT (five) and FSC (six), than any other SSC schools.
Fans and alumni hold on to the history between the teams, but the rivalry always gives way to new faces like FSC's Dominic Girod (Tampa Bay Tech) and Braxton Williams and UT's Chris Evans , who ranks third in rebounding and fifth in blocked shots among the league as a freshman.
Williams returned from injury Saturday, pouring in a career high 16 points to help end FSC's four-game skid with a 50-46 win over Barry.
Tampa won't see SSC's 2003-04 Freshman of the Year Hurley Dunbar , who is out for the season after tearing ligaments in his knee.
