WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team took the floor for its second road Sunshine State Conference game in three days. The Sailfish squared off against the No. 12 ranked Tampa Spartans and fell 80-59 to drop their record to 4-9 and 1-5 in SSC play.

The Sailfish got off to a solid start against the Spartans as they led for a majority of the opening quarter. PBA came out with energy on both ends of the floor as pressure defense by Maria Benitez-Zayas helped hold Tampa to just ten points in the opening seven minutes of play. At that time, the 'Fish led 11-10 behind four points from Shekinah Guthrie and Kash Ayuso. The Spartans went on a 9-0 run over the next minute and a half to capture the lead and the Sailfish were never able to get any closer throughout the contest.

Sia Williams scored six of PBA's 14 points in the second quarter as PBA was unable to hold down the Spartans attack and were outscored 24-14. PBA was outscored in the third by five points before taking the fourth quarter 15-13. PBA was 19-of-56 for the game, 34 percent, while Tampa shot 53 percent from the floor. The Sailfish were unable to hit from behind the arc going 0-for-8 from three, but defensively they were able to force 18 Spartans turnovers which they turned into 27 points.

Williams led the Sailfish with 15 points as she was 5-of-13 from the field. Guthrie was the lone other PBA player to reach double-digits as she scored 10 points. PBA got solid play from their bigs as Kamryn Estell finished with eight points and eight rebounds and Mariyah Fletcher scored eight of her own off the bench. 

PBA will return home to face Florida Tech on Jan. 5 inside of Rubin Arena. The Panthers are 3-9 on the season and 1-5 in SSC play.