BOX SCORE Tampa 62, Sonoma State 44 -- Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- Hannah Sourek scored a team-high 11 points and
Dana Michaels came off the bench to chip in with nine, but the Sonoma State women's basketball team suffered a 62-44 loss to visiting Tampa on day one of the Inaugural Elsie Darling Basketball Classic on Friday at The Wolves' Den in Rohnert Park. The Seawolves fall to 0-2 to start the season while the Spartans improve to 3-1.
In earlier action, seventh-ranked Chico State defeated Notre Dame de Namur,
68-44. On Saturday, the Darling Classic will feature Chico State and Tampa at 1:00 pm, followed by Sonoma State and Notre Dame de Namur at 3:00 pm.
Tampa led from start to finish, but not without some resistance from a scrappy Sonoma State squad through the first half of play. In fact, the Seawolves trailed by just four points (11-7) with 7:47 remaining in the opening period, but it would be as close as the hosts would get because the Spartans went on a 13-4 run over the next six minutes to take their largest lead of the half at 13 (24-11). Sonoma State would end the half with momentum, however, scoring seven of the final nine points of the half to trail by eight points at halftime (25-17).
In the second half, SSU got to within six points after a made jumper by
Molly Kommer at the 18:37 mark, but Tampa rallied to score 16 unanswered points over a stretch of four minutes to lead by 22 points at 43-21. A Sourek jumper ended the 16-0 run by Tampa, but the visitors continued to keep Sonoma from making a comeback and eventually held on for the 62-44 win.
The Seawolves were held to just 29.1 percent from the floor on 16 of 55 shooting, including 5 of 21 from three-point range. The Spartans connected on 38.6 percent of their shots (22 of 57) despite hitting just five of their 25 attempts from long range. Taylor McVey led all players with 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting, bringing down seven rebounds. Keke Jones had eight points, but had a game-high 13 boards in the Spartans' victory.
Sonoma State returns to the floor on Saturday at 3:00 pm to host Notre Dame de Namur.
