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Extra Work Pays Off For UT's King

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A Tribune staff, wire report

Published: January 20, 2008

TAMPA - University of Tampa coach Richard Schmidt told senior forward Chris King that he needed to stay after practice on Friday and work on his shooting.

On Saturday, that made all the difference as King scored 14 first-half points to fuel the Spartans' 57-41 win over Barry University at the Bob Martinez Sports Center.

King, who battled a hand injury earlier this season, is starting to round into shape. But that didn't stop Schmidt from proposing more practice for King, who averages 11.7 points per game.

"Chris can shoot, but he's not always the hardest worker on his own," Schmidt said. "You have to work on your own in this game."

Against the Bucs (6-11, 0-5 Sunshine State Conference) that extra work made a difference. King drained his opening shot - a 3-pointer - to give the Spartans (10-4, 4-2) a 3-2 lead. They never trailed after that.

King made four 3-pointers - including one that led to a four-point play - and went 2-for-3 from the free-throw line in the first half as the Spartans built a 32-19 lead.

"It worked out pretty well for me, I can say that much," King said.

The extra practice sessions aren't likely to stop after Saturday's performance.

"We're going to keep making Chris work on his shooting," Schmidt said, "because he a shooter and he can get shots off that other people can't."

King and Jeremy Black each had 17 points for the Spartans.

The Bucs' leading scorer, Karega Tucker, left the game after injuring his ankle with eight minutes left in the first half.

The Bucs shot 23.5 percent, and Martin Leibovich led them with eight points.

TAMPA WOMEN: The Spartans offset a sluggish offensive performance by making 16 of 21 from the free-throw line, giving them enough cushion to withstand Barry's late rally for a 46-41 win.

Center Sheena Walton scored all of her 13 points in the second half after playing just five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble. She kick-started the Spartans (12-3, 5-1 SSC) with a 5-for-6 performance at the line to give UT a 31-26 lead with 11:19 left.

"A lot of times Coach Tom Jessee and my teammates will tell me, 'As you go, we go,'" Walton said. "I knew after sitting the first half that I had to step up in the second half and do something."

UT built an 11-point lead until the Bucs (11-5, 2-3) rallied to within three points in the final minute. But a 6-for-8 performance at the line by guard Angela Guiu helped keep the Spartans in front.

The teams combined to shoot just 30 of 107 from the floor.

Matthew Postins

SAINT LEO MEN: A 3-pointer by Josh Wood with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime gave Nova Southeastern (7-8, 2-3 SSC) a 77-76 win. Kyle Rowland led the Lions (7-8, 1-4) with 17 points.

SAINT LEO WOMEN: The Lions (8-8, 1-4 SSC) lost 63-50 to Nova Southeastern (11-5, 4-1), but senior guard Amanda Holloway became the eighth player in Saint Leo women's basketball history to score 1,000 points in her career when she hit a layup with 4:32 left.

Holloway entered the contest needing 10 points to reach the scoring plateau and finished with 12.

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