TAMPA, Fla. - Lynn women's basketball cut an 18-point deficit to five points early in the fourth quarter but were unable complete the comeback in a 62-54 loss to No. 24 Tampa, Wednesday night. Makayla Hemingway made four of her five three-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Fighting Knights outscored the Spartans by 10 points in the second half.
Lynn falls to 12-11 overall and 7-8 in the Sunshine State Conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Spartans jumped out to a 9-2 lead as Carly Stroemel made the only Lynn field goal in the opening three minutes
- Tampa's three-pointer with 3:13 left in the first gave it a 10-point lead, 16-6
- Marianna Klavina scored four of Lynn's nine points on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to one point, 16-15
- Tampa outscored Lynn 19-4 in the second quarter
- The Spartans went 9-for-10 from the foul line in the quarter while the Fighting Knights had zero free throw attempts
- Lynn turned the tide in the second half, outscoring Tampa 35-25
- Danielle Montelbano's layup cut the Spartans lead to 39-27 with 6:09 remaining in the third quarter
- Montelbano scored the final three points of the third to make the score 46-32 after three quarters
- Hemingway knocked down three straight shots from beyond the arc in under 90 seconds
- Klavina followed with a jumper to conclude an 11-0 run with the score 48-43 with 7:49 left in regulation
- The Spartans responded with six-straight points to push their lead back to double digits
- Ella Fiore's jumper was proceeded by Hemingway's fourth three of the quarter as Lynn trailed, 54-48, with 2:43 remaining
- Tampa was held without a field goal over the final 4:24 but went 8-for-12 from the free throw line during that span to secure the 62-54 win
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Hemingway's five three-pointers were a career-high and she leads the team with 39 made threes this season
- Montelbano scored 13 points and had a career-high four steals
- Stroemel swatted two shots and ranks second in the SSC with 1.5 blocks per game
- After going on a five-game winning streak, the Fighting Knights have lost their last four
- Lynn has attempted 38 free throws over its last four games while opponents have attempted 97
- Lynn and Tampa split the season series
UP NEXT:
- Lynn hosts Florida Southern on Saturday at 2:00 pm
