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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Nov. 7, 2009 For the second consecutive game, the JU women's basketball team built a comfortable first half lead en route to a 57-39 win over Tampa in exhibition action at Swisher Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.
JU, who never trailed in the contest, created a 32-14 halftime lead after shooting 12-for-35 (33.3%) from the floor in the first half and led as high as 24 points (53- 29, 3:16) in the second half. The Dolphins also recorded 21 points off turnovers in the game and saw their bench tally 28 points.
Tampa shot a dismal 22.7 percent (5-22) in the first half and finished the game with 22.2 percent (11-52). The Spartans finished with only one in the contest, but managed to shoot a game-high 64 percent (16-25) from the charity stripe.
"We are going to have to work some kinks out of both ends of the floor," said JU head coach Jill Dunn. "My staff and I will challenge the team to get stronger and better every time we step out there on the floor. Overall, we are excited to starting preparing for our season opener on this week."
Offensively, junior center Lynsey Paschal had a team- high eight points and eight rebounds to help pace the Dolphins. Freshman guard Abril Peeples also tallied eight points, while junior forward Taneskei Richardson recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Valerie Jones recorded a team- high three assists to go along with six points.
The Spartans were led by senior forward Tiara Cook, who finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Junior forward Taja Green tallied 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Kamari Smith, daughter of JU hall of famer and Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith, recorded six points in the game.
In the first half, the Spartans trailed by three at 7-4 after senior guard Angela Guiu hit a layup at 17:50. Following the layup, the Dolphins tore into a 17-5 run over the next nine minutes of the half to take a 24-9 lead (8:56). The run started with consecutive jumpers made by Jones (17:32) and senior forward Desarae Johnson (16:54), while senior guard Courtney Jackson hit a three pointer on a pass from Jones at 16:15. Senior center guard Danielle Gray closed out the stretch with a free throw at 8:56.
JU would be relatively quiet over the next four minutes before sophomore guard Jessica George hit a jumper to give the Dolphins a 28-11 advantage (4:35). Peeples helped the Dolphins to a 20-point lead (32- 12, 1:12) after catching her own rebound on a miss and sliding through the Spartans defense for a layup.
The Spartans opened the second half on a 9-4 run which was capped off by a pair of free throws from junior guard Gianna Messina (15:07) to make it a 36- 23 deficit. Peeples would record layups on consecutive trips down the floor, while Gray hit two free throws at 12:16 to push the lead to 42-23. Following the Gray free throws, both teams would go on a three- minute scoring streak before freshman Drameka Griggs broke the stretch with a layup for JU at 9:34. Smith capped a 10-4 run for the Spartans in the final four minutes with a jumper (00:19), but Tampa couldn't inch any closer.
With the exhibitions out of the way, the Dolphins will now start prepping for their season opener at Wake Forest on Friday at 5 p.m.
