USF Athletics

Bulls Celebrate Redefining Season At Banquet

April 08, 2018

PHOTO GALLERY

TAMPA, APRIL 8, 2018 – USF women's basketball held its annual end of year banquet on Sunday evening at the Columbia Restaurant to celebrate the 2017-18 season with family, friends and supporters. The Bulls reached the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight season and fell one victory shy of matching the USF season wins record, going 26-8 on the year.
 
Head coach Jose Fernandez and his staff distributed nine individual awards to recognize the top performances of the season that saw the Bulls finish as the No. 24-ranked team in the final USA Today Coaches Poll.
 
Junior standout Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) received three awards: Offensive MVP, the Academic Achievement Award, and the Sharp Shooter Award. Laksa led the Bulls in 2017-18 with 21.1 points per game and broke the USF junior scoring record with 717 points for the season. She shot 39.9 percent from the field, 38.2 percent from three and led the nation in free throw shooting at 96.5 percent. Laksa was named to the WBCA All-Region 3 team and a first team all-conference selection, joining fellow Bull Maria Jespersen on the both squad.
 
In addition to all of her on-the-court accolades, Laksa was also recognized as the American Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, the second Bull ever to receive the honor.
 
Senior Laia Flores (Mataro, Spain) also received multiple awards, being named Golden Bull and Miss Dish. Flores led The American in assists per game at 6.4 for her senior season. She averaged 8.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and led the team in minutes played, averaging 36.0 per contest.
 
Redshirt junior Laura Ferreira (Lisboa, Portugal) was named Defensive MVP. She averaged 6.8 rebounds per game and had a team-best 50 steals. She also had 19 blocks on the season, one short of the team lead held by Tamara Henshaw.
 
Senior Maria Jespersen (Arhus, Denmark) was recognized as Queen of the Boards after averaging 9.7 rebounds per game, which was best in the conference. Jespersen also had a conference-high 18 double-doubles this season. Following her strong senior campaign, Jespersen became the second Bull ever to be named an AP All-American Honorable Mention.
 
Sophomore Alyssa Rader (Thornton, Colo.) is the USF Newcomer of the Year. In her first season with the Bulls after transferring from Northern Arizona, Rader started 15 of the 25 games she appeared in and averaged 6.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. She was third on the team in rebounds and also ranked third in field goal percentage, shooting 48.5 percent from the floor.
 
The final award of the night was given to redshirt freshman Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.), who was named Weight Room Warrior. Leverett appeared in 27 games off the bench, averaging 10.7 minutes and pulling down 2.4 boards per contest.
 
About USF Women's Basketball
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USF notched its sixth consecutive 20-win season in an 84-65 romp of No. 13 Ohio State. This is the ninth 20-win season in program history and head coach Jose Fernandez has been at the helm for all nine 20-win seasons. The 2014-15 team holds the record for most wins in a season (27).
 
USF has made 14 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in Head Coach Jose Fernandez's 18 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to nine 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 300 games.
– #GoBulls –