WBB No. 21/20 USF Ends Regular Season at No. 1 UConn

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: FEB. 28, 2016

 

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No. 21/20 USF Ends Regular Season at No. 1 UConn

 

TAMPA, FEB. 28, 2016 – In its fifth top-25 match-up this season, the No. 21/20 University of South Florida women’s basketball team will meet No. 1 UConn in its regular season finale. The injury burdened Bulls will play their third game in six days on Big Monday and tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2. 

 

USF clinched the No. 2 seed in the American Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday, and the most successful class in program history picked up another win. SeniorsShalethia Stringfield (Jacksonville, Fla.), Alisia Jenkins (Statesboro, Ga.) andCourtney Williams (Folkston, Ga.) shined in the Bulls’ 21st win of the season, combining for 54 points and 28 rebounds. The trio also went 17-for-17 at the charity stripe, including a crucial 9-for-9 in the second half.

 

Stringfield turned in a career performance, leading the Bulls with 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in her second start this season. Jenkins notched her 52nd career double-double, her eighth this season, just missing another 20/20 performance with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Williams added 13 points despite being double and triple teamed throughout the game, which led to a career-high eight assists.

 

The Bulls have not been at full strength since Jan. 5, when the first of three starters went down with an injury. Jenkins injured her left ankle against UCF, and missed a total of two games, before returning and reinjuring her ankle at Memphis, which led to four more games being missed. During that time, Laura Ferreira (Lisboa, Portugal) battled plantar fasciitis and missed six games, putting the Bulls without two of its most dynamic players on the court. On Feb. 21, Bulls country took a collective breath, as USF appeared at full strength with its entire roster dressed for warm-ups. The Bulls ran past Memphis, avenging an overtime loss in Tennessee earlier in the season, but with less than five minutes left in the game freshman Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) went down with an ankle injury. The freshman long-range specialist has missed two games, and is still questionable to return for Monday’s game.

 

The Bulls and the Huskies met earlier this season on Jan. 10, and No. 1 UConn walked away with a 16-point victory. USF jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first quarter, trailed by just five at the half and sank 12 3-pointers in a 75-59 loss. The Bulls nearly took the lead back in the third quarter and played efficiently with just eight turnovers.

 

Bulls Bites

·      Williams is seven rebounds away from 900 and 11 rebounds away from moving to third on the all-time rebounding list. Williams is the first player in program history to reach 2,000 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists. Williams has joined legendary Wanda Guyton (’89) as the only Bull to rank in the top-5 in both the programs career points and rebounds record books.  Guyton is second in career rebounds (1,077) and fourth in career points (1,820). If Williams surpasses Mary Klinewski (’85), she will be the only student-athlete to rank in the top-3 in both categories.

·      In league play, four Bulls are averaging double-digit production. Courtney Williams (Folkston, Ga.) leads the squad with 20.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Kitija Laksa(Riga, Latvia) follows with 16.7 points per game while Shalethia Stringfield(Jacksonville, Fla.) and Laura Ferreira(Lisboa, Portugal) add 11.7 points and 11.4 points per game.

·      The Bulls are ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press (AP) Top-25 Poll released Monday and No. 20 in the USA Today Coaches Poll Tuesday. USF has been ranked as highly as No. 15 (AP Poll) and No. 15 (USA Today Coaches Poll) this season; both are the highest rankings in program history. 

·      The Bulls have now appeared in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Top-25 polls every week this season, building a streak of 17 consecutive weeks in the polls dating back to last season.

 

Around the American 

·      The media credential application for the 2016 American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship on March 4-7 at the Mohegan Sun Arena  in Uncasville, Conn., is now available. Media outlets planning to cover the championship should submit the application at www.sportssystems.com/theamerican.

·      There are no games scheduled for Sunday. The American Athletic Conference regular season concludes with five league matchups on Monday. No. 21/20 USF heads to Gampel Pavilion to face No. 1 UConn at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2). SMU travels to East Carolina at 7 p.m. ET. Temple hosts UCF at 7 p.m. ET (ADN). Tulane welcomes Cincinnati at 8 p.m. ET(ESPN3). Memphis visits Hofheinz Pavilion to take on Houston at 8 p.m. ET.

·      No. 1 UConn bounced back from an early 11-point deficit to earn an 80-40 win against Tulane on Senior Day at Gampel Pavilion on Saturday. Breanna Stewart produced a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Katie Lou Samuelson led all scorers with 21 points, including six 3-pointers, off the bench for the Huskies. Sophomore Kolby Morgan scored a team-high 19 points to lead the Green Wave. Tierra Jones and Harlyn Wyatt pulled down a team-best seven rebounds each.

·      Houston concluded the road portion of its 2015-16 regular season schedule with a 63-54 win against SMU on Saturday at Moody Coliseum. Jessieka Palmer produced a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. Marche’ Amerson added 10 points, eight of which were scored in the fourth quarter. Alicia Froling recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Mustangs. SMU finished the game with seven blocks en route to setting the program’s single-season block record.  Head coach Rhonda Rompola was honored during a pregame ceremony as she coached her final game at Moody Coliseum. 

·      Memphis and East Carolina went to overtime for the second consecutive meeting, with the Tigers earning an 83-83 win on Saturday. Memphis battled back from a nine-point deficit in the final two minutes of the regulation before capturing the victory in extra time. On Senior Day, the Tigers’ seniors combined for 75 points and 26 rebounds led by Ariel Hearn with 22 points and nine rebounds. Asianna Fuqua-Bey added 21 points. Jada Payne scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds for the Pirates, while Marina Laramie chipped in 21 points. 

·      Senior Ashley Clark produced 27 points to power Tulsa past Cincinnati, 76-63, on Saturday afternoon at Fifth Third Arena. Clark went 11-of-20 from the field to go with eight rebounds and five assists. Ashley Hughes posted a season-high 14 points, while Te’era Williams grabbed 10 rebounds. Senior Jasmine Whitfield and sophomore Ana Owens paced the Bearcats on Senior Day. Whitfield finished with 18 points and six rebounds, while Owens recorded a team-high 19 points.  

 

UConn’s Scout

·      The Huskies (28-0, 17-0 American) extended the third longest winning streak in program and women's NCAA history to 65 games Saturday in an 80-40 win over Tulane. Freshman Katie Lou Samuelson scored a team high 21 points, doubling her season average of 10.4 points per game. 

·      UConn is outscoring opponents by a margin of 40.6 this season, and only five teams have stayed within 20 points of the reigning national champions. USF lost by 16, and since Jan. 10, only one team has stayed within 30 points.

·      The Huskies lead the country with a 52.2 field goal percentage and have the country’s best scoring offense, averaging 88.3 points per game.

 

 

Up Next

USF will open postseason action at the American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship March 5. With its win over Temple, USF clinched the No. 2 seed in the tournament and received a bye to the quarterfinals. USF will play Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. USF will face the winner of the opening round No. 7 and No. 10 match-up. The first round of the tournament is Friday, March 4^th and games begin at 4 p.m. ESPN3 will air the first two rounds of the tournament. For ticket information, please visit theamerican.org.

[DELdaBull]

I'm not holding my breath, but if we do the impossible and beat UCONN and make it to the AAC Finals we might sneak up to a 4 seed. 

[Blackice12]

Will the team stay in Connecticut after the game, since the tournament starts 4 days later?

[dantheusfman]

7 hours ago, DELdaBull said:

I'm not holding my breath, but if we do the impossible and beat UCONN and make it to the AAC Finals we might sneak up to a 4 seed. 

Agreed, but this would literally be the ONLY scenario I see it happening; that, or win the AAC torunament.

7 hours ago, Blackice12 said:

Will the team stay in Connecticut after the game, since the tournament starts 4 days later?

Coach Fernandez said after the game on Saturday they'll be flying back; it isn't prudent for the team to miss 3 days of classes to save money on plane tickets; plus, the extra hotel costs would likely outweigh plane costs

[Ionbull]

9 hours ago, Blackice12 said:

Will the team stay in Connecticut after the game, since the tournament starts 4 days later?

It is in/around mid terms time so probably need to be back for classes and such