Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – East Stroudsburg University trailed No. 22 Tampa 31-25 at halftime before the Spartans opened up the lead in the second half for a 66-49 victory in the Warriors' 2009-10 women's basketball opener on Friday at the Courtyard by Marriott Classic at Merrimack College.

Senior forward DeAnna Rayam scored 13 points and senior guard Mel Villano had 12 for ESU, which overcame an early 17-6 deficit in the first seven minutes to play with the No. 22-ranked Spartans for the rest of the first half. Tampa (2-0) returned four starters from last year's 26-6 team and is the preseason favorite in the Sunshine State Conference.

The Warriors shot 8-for-22 from behind the three-point arc, with two makes by Villano providing the offense early in the game for ESU. A three-pointer by freshman guard Barb Borst cut into the Tampa lead (20-11) at the 12-minute mark to start a 6-0 run and sophomore forward Jennifer Scherer had a three-point play to make the score 22-17 four minutes later.

Tampa stretched the lead back to 11 (29-18) with four minutes left in the half, but the Warriors responded with a 7-0 spurt. Sophomore guard Cyara Woodridge hit a three-pointer and Rayam had a layup and made two free throws with 1:45 left in the half. Kamari Smith scored the final bucket of the half to give Tampa its six-point lead.

The Spartans came out of the break with a 10-0 run, including seven points by Taja Green, to put some distance between themselves and the Warriors and led by double figures the rest of the way. Green had a game-high 15 points, Caitlyn Mitryk had 10 and eight rebounds and Smith contributed seven points and nine boards.

The seniors led the way for ESU, with Villano playing 36 minutes and going 3-for-5 from the three-point line. Rayam played 35 minutes and was sixth in the PSAC with 35.7 minutes per game last season.

Borst (six points), Scherer (five points) and senior center Alexa Detzi (three points) rebounded out the starting lineup for the Warriors in their first game under acting head coach Justin Potts. Freshman forward Mia Waring scored six points off the bench.

ESU will play in the consolation game on Saturday at 1 p.m. against either Merrimack or Tiffin (Ohio).