GoUSFBulls.com No. 23 USF Prepared for Battle at Temple

[Brad]

USF ATHLETICS GoUSFBulls.com

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: January 28, 2017

 

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No. 23 USF Prepared for Battle at Temple

 

TAMPA, JAN. 28, 2017 –The No. 23 University of South Florida women’s basketball team continues its two-game road swing when it travels to face Temple on Sunday in McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia, Pa. at noon.

 

The Jan. 29 game is being broadcast on CBS Sports Network with Ed Cohen (play-by-play) and Julianne Viani (analyst) on the call. USF IMG Sports Network radio broadcast can be heard on AM 1040, featuring Mike Lefko.

 

USF (16-3, 5-1 The American) is coming off a narrow victory Wednesday, edging SMU 52-51. The Bulls outrebounded the Mustangs 45-34 and held SMU to just 35 percent shooting.

 

Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) totaled 28 points in the victory for her ninth 20-point performance of the season. She shot 10 of 27 from the field. Maria Jespersen contributed seven points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

 

Laksa continues to pace the team in scoring at 19.6 points per game, connecting on 61 three-pointers to go with a team best 91.8 free throw percentage. With her three treys last game, the sophomore moved into the ninth spot on the program’s single-season list for three-pointers in a season.

 

The Opponent

USF and the Temple will meet for the eighth time in program history. The Bulls hold a 7-1 advantage in the series, including a 2-1 record in Philadelphia. The pair first met in 2014 but battled three times last season. USF last met Temple in the American Athletic Conference semifinal and defeated the Owls 64-46 in Uncasville, Conn.

 

Temple (16-3, 6-0 The American) boasts a perfect record in The American, but has yet to face No. 1 UConn this season. The Owls are riding a 12-game win streak, and defeated Penn for a Philadelphia Big 5 Championship Wednesday. Temple has received votes in the USA Today Coaches Top-25 poll all season, and sits at No. 27 in the RPI rankings. The Owls are led by Feyonda Fitzgerald with 18.1 points per game and her 7.5 assists per game ranks sixth in NCAA Division I.

 

Notables

• Jespersen is averaging 14.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, but boasts a 16.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game average in conference play.

• Laia Flores (Mataro, Spain) has a team high 119 assists this season, which is 11 assists away from the program’s single season-top 10.

• Flores continues to rank among the nation’s best point guards. Her 3.13 assist-turnover ratio ranks 10th in the country.

• The Bulls have totaled 10 wins by 16 or more points, including three against conference opponents.

• Head coach Jose Fernandez reached 300 career wins Jan. 17. Only three active coaches in the American Athletic Conference have achieved the feat.

• The Bulls have only committed 229 fouls this season (12.1 per game), which ranks third as the fewest fouls committed this season.

• USF is the only team in NCAA Division I with nine international players on its roster.

[bullsfan27]

Bulls playing well early up 16-10 end of 1st quarter

[Mike Stuben]

Today is clearly the toughest regular season game remaining against an opponent who isn't on a 90+ game winning streak. 

And the next toughest will be Temple again, in Tampa. 

[206BULL]

Ladies playing D early. Temple shooting just 25% through the first quarter. 

[NewEnglandBull]

Defense making all the difference. They also seem to be playing a little more physical.

[Mike Stuben]

20 minutes ago, Mike Stuben said:

Today is clearly the toughest regular season game remaining against an opponent who isn't on a 90+ game winning streak. 

And the next toughest will be Temple again, in Tampa. 

I should add, on paper .... so far today doesn't seem so tough. 

[bullsfan27]

Bulls up 29-18 at the half. Need to keep the intensity on d up in the 2nd half

[206BULL]

Up 11 at the half. Hope this defense and rebounding sticks around through March. 

[TarHeel_Bull]

Who else just saw that flop from the Temple player? That was one of the worst flops I've seen against a USF team in a while, she basically did a barrel roll and was barely touched.

Edit- Worst flop since Alex Bentley, the South Carolina QB 

Edited January 29, 2017 by Viking_Bull

[swamprat]

Temple starting to hit shots, something they did not do the 1st half.