WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic women's basketball team dropped a home game to the UTampa Spartans on Saturday afternoon in an overtime thriller. After a dramatic 40 minutes of regulation was not enough to decide a winner, Tampa slowly pulled away against a depleted Sailfish team with only seven players in the rotation.  

Kash Ayuso led the way for the Sailfish once again with 28 points. Darria Whitley also had a bounce back game with 28 points of her own. Zoe Wortinger also knocked down two three-point shots for the basket and had a total of 9 points.  

In the first quarter, neither team got off to a particularly hot start. After the first quarter, both teams were tied at 14. The Sailfish shot 6-13 (46.2%) to reach that mark while the Spartans were only shooting 5-15 (33.3). Kash Ayuso had a 6-point quarter while Ellison and Hagy contributed three points each.  

Moving on to the second frame, PBA and Tampa barely got out of the single digits in the quarter. PBA scored nine points on 3-15 (20 %) shooting in the period. Tampa, a little more efficient (5-12, 41.7%) but only scored 10 points in the quarter before halftime.  

Coming out of the halftime break, the Sailfish started to heat up. Despite the better shooting, Tampa continued to build on their lead. After a layup from Giorgia Palmieri, the Sailfish found themselves down by their biggest deficit of the game, seven.  

The fourth quarter was the Darria Whitley show. Whitley brought the Sailfish back with 11 points in the period, including going 3-3 from beyond the arc in the final quarter. The final minutes played out in dramatic fashion.  

After a 6-0 Spartan run, Carleigh Andrews hit a three-point shot to give the Sailfish a 62-61 lead with just under a minute remaining. Tampa shot back in front on the ensuing possession on a layup from Sariana Rodriguez at 63-62. On the next possession, a fired up Kash Ayuso made a layup and completed the and one on the free throw. Zoe Pillar, who led the Spartans with 28 points, backed down the Sailfish defense and tied it up with a layup of her own at 65-65. The Sailfish had ten seconds and the ball to win it at the end of regulation. After a timeout to draw up a play, Anabel Ellison got an open look from beyond the arc but was unable to convert and the game went to overtime.  

The Spartans pulled away in overtime with a 9-2 run over the first 3:48 of the extra frame to take a 74-67 lead. The Sailfish got back within five points but that would be the closest they would get as the Spartans hit three free-throws down the stretch to ice the game. 

The Sailfish return to action on Wednesday when they head to Florida Tech to take on Panthers at 5:30 p.m.