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Lions Teams Face Test In SSC Rival Spartans

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

Published: January 9, 2008

ST. LEO - In many ways still a player at heart, Saint Leo women's basketball coach Chanita Olds still has trouble putting her feelings for the University of Tampa into words.

But there is a sound for it.

"When you say University of Tampa, automatically, anybody that plays here ... ewww," she said. "So it's just us versus them."

It's equally difficult to explain how much victories against the Spartans for the men and women tonight at UT's Bob Martinez Center, would mean for their prospects in the Sunshine State Conference.

Both teams are coming off overtime losses to Rollins on Saturday, and a victory would erase those memories and give one of the programs credibility as a contender.

The game perhaps means more for the women (7-5, 0-1 SSC), who have lost eight consecutive games to the two-time defending SSC Tournament champions.

"There are a lot of things on the line in this game," forward Melissa Guerero said. "It's going to change this program, because we haven't beaten them that much in the whole tradition of basketball.

"Saturday was a hard one to swallow, because we had it in the bag. But beating Tampa - that would be something. ... I can't put it into words. ... So, so awesome, for our team and our program."

The keys to the women's game, according to leading scorer Amanda Holloway, are defense and free-throw shooting. UT ranks second in the SSC in shooting (.440) shooting defense (.318) and free throws (.715). SLU is in the middle of the nine-team conference in those categories.

For the men (6-5, 0-1), the focus will be on exploiting the Spartans' seldom-tested bench. UT has a tendency to lean on its top players, as each of its five starters averages more than 30 minutes a game, and they have combined to score 91.5 percent of the team's points. If the starters get into foul trouble or are ineffective, the complexion of the game could change quickly.
Saint Leo was successful offensively against Rollins, but UT presents a different challenge.

"You're going to see a little bit more physical, man-to-man defense versus good, long and active zone defenses from Rollins," Coach Mike Madagan said. "I know they're well-coached, I know they're going to be prepared, I know they have good players. I believe we're deeper ... but it's a different sort of game."

Madagan still thinks his team must improve its shooting to contend in the conference. Tonight's game might provide a chance to do that, as UT ranks near the bottom of the league in shooting defense.

There were signs of improvement Saturday, as forward Kyle Rowland and guards Dusty Driggs and Jonathan Banks had success from 3-point range. While Madagan had been experimenting with Rowland at small forward since last week's 31-point win at Palm Beach Atlantic, he may start another game at power forward to make room for a three-guard offense that includes Quentin Cullop at the point.

"The momentum that we got coming out of the game at Palm Beach Atlantic and the way we played was a result of John and Quentin and Dusty playing together," Madagan said. "I think we're going to work and build on that."

Correspondent Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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