WBB Bulls Seek Series Sweep Sunday

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: JAN. 16, 2016

 

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Bulls Seek Series Sweep Sunday

 

TAMPA, JAN. 16, 2016 – The University of South Florida women’s basketball team returns to Sun Dome Arena Sunday for its second match-up against East Carolina. The Bulls look to sweep the series against ECU at 2 p.m. in USF’s We Back Pat game.

 

Following the launch of The Pat Summitt Foundation, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) coordinated the first annual We Back Pat week, during which all SEC women’s basketball teams hosted games. The following year, colleges and high schools across the country began hosting We Back Pat games of their own.  We Back Pat Week begins Jan. 17 and runs through Jan. 25.
 

The Bulls and Pirates have already met once this season, and ECU holds a 7-3 all-time series advantage. In the pairs last outing, USF pulled out a dramatic 61-59 finish thanks to Courtney Williams (Folkston, Ga.) and a buzzer beater from the elbow.  Williams put together a solid, all-around performance with a game-high 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists. Fellow senior Alisia Jenkins posted her sixth double-double of the season 14 points and 14 rebounds to help USF finish with a 40-37 edge on the boards.

 

Bulls Bites

AAt the halfway point of the season, senior Courtney Williams ranks 10th in the country in points per game and the senior’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed as Williams was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top-20 list, announced Friday. Williams joins fellow watch list member Brittany Martin (Oklahoma State) as just one of two players in the country averaging over 20 points, eight rebounds and two assists per game.

<Freshman Kitija Laksa turned in an accomplished week and was honored by the US Basketball Writers Association (WSBWA) as the National Freshman of the Week. Laksa was also named the American Athletic Conference as the Player of the Week. Laksa shocked the league in three outings and totaled 76 points in an efficient manner, shooting 52 percent from the floor, including a 63 percent three-point shooting effort. For the week, Laksa averaged 25.3 points per game, shooting 52 percent from the floor. She enters the week third on the Bulls roster, averaging 12.1 points per game.

AAlisia Jenkins, still questionable for Sunday’s game, leads the Bulls with 13.3 rebounds per game this season, and ranks fourth in Division I in her senior season. Jenkins is the current career rebounding record holder for the Bulls, and has collected 1,125 rebounds throughout her four years. The Georgia native is just the second Bull in program history to surpass the 1,000 career rebound mark.

TThe Bulls are ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press (AP) Top-25 Poll released Monday and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll released last Tuesday. USF has been ranked as highly as No. 18 (AP Poll) and No. 16 (USA Today Coaches Poll) this season, both are the highest rankings in program history.

 

Up Next

USF hits the road Wednesday in American Athletic Conference action. The Bulls will travel to Memphis Jan. 20 for an 8 p.m. ET match-up. The game will air on the American Digital Network. Tickets are available at USFBullsTix.com.

[Mama_Bull]

 

The Bulls are ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press (AP) Top-25 Poll released Monday and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll released last Tuesday.  "USF has been ranked as highly as No. 18 (AP Poll) and No. 16 (USA Today Coaches Poll)  this season, both are the highest rankings in program history."

 

If USF beats ECU, then I expect that both poll records will be surpassed this week.

 

Many teams in front of USF in the AP poll have already lost to lesser teams this week.  So, USF should jump up a few spots and get closer to their current ranking in the coaches poll. 

[raptorcj]

I'm enjoying riding the wave, while we have Courtney and Alisia. I'm afraid next season will be a tough adjustment.

[Mama_Bull]

26 minutes ago, raptorcj said:

I'm enjoying riding the wave, while we have Courtney and Alisia. I'm afraid next season will be a tough adjustment.

Courtney is irreplaceable.

With all the height we are bringing in, I think rebounding wise that can go a long way to making up for the loss of Alisia. At least two of them are 1,000 point scorers in HS, so they should probably improve our scoring in the paint. 

Undoubtedly, some of the current players, aside from Laksa, will have to take on more of a scoring roll, since they can't rely any longer on Courtney.

Also, the incoming player from Denmark averaged about 18 points a game for her national team, and should eventually be one of our better offensive threats.

Coach Fernandez is still looking to add one more player to this class. So far he has reached a snag in getting her to come in for an official visit, because of recent FIBA competition in Europe. Hopefully, she will choose USF. 

[raptorcj]

1 minute ago, Mama_Bull said:

Courtney is irreplaceable.

With all the height we are bringing in, I think rebounding wise that can go a long way to making up for the loss of Alisia. At least two of them are 1,000 point scorers in HS, so they should probably improve our scoring in the paint. 

Undoubtedly, some of the current players, aside from Laksa, will have to take on more of a scoring roll, since they can't rely any longer on Courtney.

Also, the incoming player from Denmark averaged about 18 points a game for her national team, and should eventually be one of our better offensive threats.

Coach Fernandez is still looking to add one more player to this class. So far he has reached a snag in getting her to come in for an official visit, because of recent FIBA competition in Europe. Hopefully, she will choose USF. If so, she also would be a scoring threat.

I share your optimism on the rebounding, but pure athleticism is a rare jewel in WBB. I can see us holding par with shooting percentage and getting a few more buckets off the offensive boards, but CREATING the shots with cuts & court vision is where we're going to take a step back. Better teams like UCONN won't let us rule the offensive glass. That's the ultimate concern for me about the future.

But it's nice to be thinking in terms of staying near the top of the conference, a program with sustained success would be awesome. I hope coach can keep up the good work.

 

 

[Mama_Bull]

On 1/16/2016 at 3:40 PM, raptorcj said:

I share your optimism on the rebounding, but pure athleticism is a rare jewel in WBB. I can see us holding par with shooting percentage and getting a few more buckets off the offensive boards, but CREATING the shots with cuts & court vision is where we're going to take a step back. Better teams like UCONN won't let us rule the offensive glass. That's the ultimate concern for me about the future.

But it's nice to be thinking in terms of staying near the top of the conference, a program with sustained success would be awesome. I hope coach can keep up the good work.

 

 

FWIW, incoming USF player PF/C Jazz Bond was nominated for  the McDonald All-american team. She didn't make it, but her teammate, UCONN signee, #1PG in the nation Crystal Dangerfield did:

Dangerfield is a two-time DNJ Female Athlete of the year. Dangerfield was joined by Blackman teammate Jazz Bond and Oakland senior Shelby Gibson as nominees for the game.

http://ht.ly/XcvC9

 

The othe night, Jazz surpassed 1,000 career points. In a low scoring game, she had 13 points 16 rebounds and five blocked shots:

Blackman’s Jazz Bond scored nine of her 13 points in the first half. She also grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked five shots.

“I was just trying to make sure I got every rebound and ‘D’ up,” said Bond, a South Florida signee who was honored prior to the game for surpassing the 1,000-point mark for her high school career. “When Kesha drove (to the basket), I made sure to squeeze and made sure I had my hands up.”

http://www.dnj.com/story/sports/high-school/2016/01/15/defense-keeps-lady-blaze-perfect-7-aaa/78700172/

 

Jazz recognized for 1000 pts. Congrats!!