Sports

Red hot University of Tampa face St. Leo as No. 24 Spartans are coming off a big win over Barry.

Published

6 days ago

January 25, 2025

The Spartans will head back home for a matchup with St. Leo. This contest is scheduled for Saturday, January 25, with tip-off at 4:00pm. This day is also Tampa Bay’s Gasparilla parade, fans can go to https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2024/01/22/gasparilla-guide-january-pirate-festival-tampa-florida/72309312007/ for more information on street closures and how to get to the Bob Martinez Center.

REVIEW OF THE WIN OVER BARRY …

The Spartans currently sit two games back of first place in the SSC standings and knew they needed to handle business on the road before coming home. With this contest featuring the two leading scorers in the Sunshine State Conference (Jennings – Barry, Piller – Tampa), fans knew they were in for a fast paced high scoring matchup.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final Score: #24 Tampa 69, Barry 62

Records: #24 Tampa 16-4 (8-2 SSC), Barry 12-6 (5-5 SSC)

Location: Health & Sports Center I Miami Shores, Fla.

All-time series: This was the 84th all-time meeting between these two programs. Tampa now leads the series 59-25 with tonight’s victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

FIRST HALF: This contest started out fast with Barry hitting a three on their first possession of the game. Audrey Ramsey got the Spartans on the board with a nice floater after driving the lane. Barry hit another three in the opening minutes but after both teams traded finishes at the rim, the Buccaneers led 10-6 after the first five minutes. Sariana Rodrguez and Zoe Piller both hit tough lays through contact to help Tampa close the gap but the Spartans were in need of a spark. Kath Van Bennekom would pack a punch off the bench as she made an immediate impact. The Dutch International hit a three to pull Tampa within one before recording two steals, going coast to coast on one of them for a bucket. Kath Van Bennekom also dished out a nice assist to Vivian Jende for a layup and the first Tampa lead of the game at 15-14. Audrey Ramsey hit a pair of free throws to give Tampa a 17-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter did not start in favor of the Spartans. Barry opened the quarter with a 7-0 run by hitting more contested threes and took a 21-17 lead. However, Tampa answered in an enormous way, going on their own 14-0 to retake the lead and extend it to double-digits. Olivia Davis knocked down multiple threes and the Spartans played lockdown defense for this run of over five minutes. With two minutes remaining Barry re-found their offense and were able to dig themselves out of a ten point hole and make this contest a two point game.

Score: #24 Tampa 31, Barry 29

SECOND HALF: The second half started with the same pace and intensity as both teams traded baskets for the first few minutes. Barry got on the board first and tied the game up at 31 but with the score later tied at 35, they went on their first big run of the half. Over the course of four minutes, the Spartans could not get anything to fall and quickly were on the receiving end of a 8-0 run. An Olivia Davis free throw put an end to the Tampa drought but with under two minutes, Spartans were still down 45-38. After some back and forth in the final minute, Sariana Rodriguez found her way to the line for a three point play after a tough lay through contact. This helped Tampa close the gap to just six heading into the final quarter of play. Down 48-42 with ten minutes left, the Spartans knew they had zero time to waste. Zoe Piller got right to work for the Spartans by hitting a turnaround lay on the lower block to cut the lead to four. Olivia Davis on the next possession was able to find her way to the line for two huge free throws to cut the lead to 48-46 Barry. Both teams traded baskets over the course of several hard fought minutes but with six minutes to go the Barry lead was back up to seven. The Spartans once again answered with Sariana Rodriguez and Zoe Piller hitting back to back layups to pull the game to 57-55. Down by two with three minutes left in the game, Zoe Piller finished another tough shot at the rim to tie the game up at 57. The Spartans continued to get stops and after Audrey Ramsey floater, Tampa had their first lead since early in the third quarter. With two minutes on the clock, Kath Van Bennekom forced a Barry turnover that led to an easy Zoe Piller layup and the Spartans led 61-57 with a minute and half left. Kath Van Bennekom put the nail in the coffin with a nice one handed lay fading away from the basket to put the Spartans up seven. Multiple Spartans went on to hit the free throws needed to close out this contest and head back home with a win.

Final: #24 Tampa 69, Barry 62

INSIDE THE STATS:

All eight Spartans who played recorded a made basket
Spartans as a team shot the ball with elite efficiency, finishing with a 48.0%
Kath Van Bennekom recorded 4 total steals (ties Sariana Rodriguez for team high this season)

UP NEXT: The Spartans will head back home for a weekend matchup with St. Leo. This contest is scheduled for Saturday, January 25, with tip-off at 4:00pm. This day is also Tampa Bay’s Gasparilla parade, fans can go to https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2024/01/22/gasparilla-guide-january-pirate-festival-tampa-florida/72309312007/ for more information on street closures and how to get to the Bob Martinez Center.

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Sports

NBA Europe? A Possibility In The Future

Published

2 hours ago

January 30, 2025

Austin Reed

Adam Silver

There are arenas available in Europe.

National Basketball Association owners were supposed to be considering expanding to 32 teams sometime in 2025 but almost a month has passed and it appears that NBA owners are more interested in euros or pounds than the glitz of Las Vegas and the corporate rich Seattle market. The league is also investigating whether Mexico City has the wherewithal to host an NBA franchise. “Mexico City is a market that we’ve been playing regular season games and not just preseason games for a long time. I think that’s potentially doable, “said the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “There are other issues involved, it’s not about to happen overnight, but I think that’s a real opportunity.” But European expansion is also on Silver’s mind. He has dusted off the old David Stern plan to expand into Europe. About two decades ago, the NBA Commissioner Stern was wondering whether an NBA European Division would work but there was an arena problem in Europe. There were enough NBA state-of-the-art facilities on the continent and the notion went dormant until recently. Silver made an appearance on Shaquille O’Neal’s podcast and discussed how things might work in Europe but there are some obstacles.

“One of the things we’ve been discussing is whether, before adding NBA franchises in Europe, there’s an opportunity to create an independent league there. This could leverage the enormous interest in basketball in major European capitals like Paris, London, Berlin, and Madrid and other major cities that love basketball,” Silver continued, “One day, maybe it’ll be my successor, but I can definitely see a division of NBA teams in Europe, and I think it would be an incredible thing for the game.” The business of the NBA is selling the brand globally. The league is looking for new money making markets and Europe appears to be the next stop.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191

Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com

FILE – In this Sept. 2, 2020, file photo, the NBA logo (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

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Sports

Rays and free agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim agree to 2-year deal worth $29 million, AP source says

Published

14 hours ago

January 30, 2025

Austin Reed

San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim (7) in the ninth inning of a baseball game, Aug. 17, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)

The Tampa Bay Rays and free agent Ha-Seong Kim have agreed to a two-year contract valued at $29 million, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been announced. ESPN first reported the agreement.

Kim, who played his first four seasons in the majors with the San Diego Padres and won a Gold Glove in 2023, will be paid $13 million this year. He also could earn $2 million in performance bonuses — $10,000 per plate appearance starting at 326 through 525.

Kim has a $16 million player option for 2026.

The 29-year-old infielder from South Korea tore the labrum in his right shoulder on Aug. 18 and needed season-ending surgery. He hit .233 with 11 homers and 22 stolen bases in the final season of a $28 million, four-year contract.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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Tampa earns the No. 1 spot in the USA Lacrosse Magazine’s preseason rankings.

Published

21 hours ago

January 30, 2025

Austin Reed

Tampa earns the No. 1 spot in the USA Lacrosse Magazine’s initial rankings. After earning the program’s highest final ranking in 2024 following a National Championship title, the team garners its highest-ever preseason ranking in any poll at No. 1 surpassing the previous mark at No. 4.

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Tampa is the No. 1 team in the USA Lacrosse Division II Women’s Preseason Top 20, USA Lacrosse Magazine announced Tuesday.

When Tampa put the final touches on its 13-8 win over Adelphi in the 2024 NCAA championship game, the Spartans became the fourth straight first-time champion in Division II. And they were certainly deserving.

The defending national champs are the popular choice among Division II coaches as the preseason No. 1, with returning talent throughout the lineup. Peyton Howell and Sophi Wrisk return to lead the offense, with Lexi Waters and Delaney Stahrr back as the defensive anchors.

While it’s still to be seen how the changes for 2025 ‑ an expanded NCAA tournament field of 24 teams and automatic berths for conference champions ‑ will impact the parity, what is known is that Tampa begins the new season right where it left off last year, sitting at the top of the national rankings.

Led by midfielders Maggie Schipfer and Megan Bunker, No. 2 Regis has a strong group returning from last year’s final-four team. A sixth straight RMAC title and another deep NCAA run won’t be surprising in 2025.

No. 3 Florida Southern battled Tampa three times last year, with those games decided by a combined four goals. The margin between these two Sunshine State Conference foes is usually razor-thin, and that’s likely to be the case again this spring.

No. 4 Pace, which was undefeated until the NCAA regional final in 2024, must replace national player of the year Angelina Porcello in the midfield as well as first-team All-America defender Alexandra Quinn, but the Setters welcome back All-America goalie Sami Tanguay.

Rounding out the top five, West Chester has some key losses from last year’s regional final squad, most notably midfielder Hannah Stanislawczyk, the program’s all-time scoring leader. The return of midfielder Keri Barnett, who missed all of 2024 due to an injury, should help.

Preseason rankings are compiled by USA Lacrosse Magazine staff and contributors with consultation from college coaches.

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