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USF Drops Back-to-Back Conference Games
The USF men's basketball team lost two Conference USA games this past week.

Shooting a season-low 25.9 percent from the floor (16.7 during the first half), USF fell to the Cincinnati Bearcats, 74-48, in the 2005 Dodge Shootout at the USF Sun Dome on Thursday. Senior Brian Swift was the only Bull to score in double figures, notching a career-high 27 points on the night.

Swift shot 9-of-26 from the floor (his 26 shot attempts set a career mark), including 3-of-13 from behind the 3-point arch. Junior Solomon Jones recorded a team-high eight rebounds while registering six points. Three Bulls fouled out during the contest, including senior Terrence Leather, who was held scoreless for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Plagued by foul trouble for most of the game, Leather went 0-of-5 from the floor in 12 minutes of action.

A pair of 20-point performances by Swift and freshman Collin Dennis were not enough as the Bulls lost to the UAB Blazers, 85-71, at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday. UAB capitalized, scoring 42 points off 28 USF turnovers to hand the Bulls their sixth-straight loss.

Dennis registered a career-high 25 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor. The freshman guard went 8-of-9 from the free throw line while tying his career high in steals with four. Swift recorded his third 20-point game of the season, pouring in 20 points, shooting 5-of-14 from the field (3-of-6 from behind the 3-point arch). The Warrensville, Ohio, native also notched six assists on the night. Senior Marlyn Bryant tallied his first-career double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. The USF forward recorded four steals versus the Blazers.

USF will next travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 2. The Bulls will round out the week at home on Saturday, Feb. 5, with a 7 p.m. game against Tulane.

Conference Road Woes Continue for Women's Basketball
The USF women's basketball team dropped its two games last weekend to Marquette (67-41) on Jan. 28 and to No. 17/18 DePaul (74-66) on Jan. 30.

Anedra Gilmore led the Bulls against the Golden Eagles with 16 points while Jessica Dickson added 12 points. USF shot just 27.8 percent from the field on the night. Marquette also took advantage of the fact the USF's second-leading scorer and starting center Nalini Miller is out with a strained hamstring. The Golden Eagles dominated the inside, outscoring the Bulls 48-6 in the paint.

Dickson came back two days later with an impressive 21-point performance against the Blue Demons. Rachael Sheats and Alana Tanksley added 17 and 12 points, respectively, in the loss.

Brewer Leads Women's Indoor Track to Reebok Boston Indoor Games Title
USF senior Chandra Brewer won the shot put and the weight throw to lead the USF women's track team to a title at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on the campus of Northeastern University on Saturday. The Bulls scored 128 points to win the 10-team event by 37 points over second-place Albany. USF won five of the 17 events.

In addition to Brewer's two titles, Ashlee Ward won the 55-meter dash (7.05), Bente General won the 1000-meter run (2:55.33) and USF's 4x400 relay team also won (3:53.68). Brewer's shot put mark was 51-09.75, while her weight throw was 49-11.00

Altaria Hawkins finished second in the 400-meter run (57.74) and Christa Benton added a second-place finish in the 3,000-meter run (10:09.81).

Women's Tennis Keeps Win Streak Alive
The USF women's tennis team remained undefeated with weekend wins over Mississippi and Memphis.

Freshman Courtney Vernon continued her early success by winning both of her singles matches and 2-of-3 doubles matches with partner Neyssa Etienne.

Also picking up wins in both matches were freshman Liz Cruz, Gabriela Duch and junior Louisa Obando.

The Bulls will have two weeks off before they face intra-state rival UCF on at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Bulls Open 2005 Campaign with Three-Game Series Against Bethune- Cookman
Eddie Cardieri enters his 20th season as head coach of the USF baseball team and his squad opens this weekend with a three-game split series against Bethune-Cookman. The Bulls travel to Daytona Beach for the opener at 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4. The two teams will play again Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 5-6, at USF's Red McEwen Field. The Saturday game starts at 1 p.m. and Sunday's first pitch is at noon.

Although the Bulls lose three of their top hitters from a year ago in Myron Leslie, Devin Ivany and Mike Macaluso, there is plenty of optimism, especially for what appears to be a solid pitching staff.

"This team has a chance," says Cardieri, "because the pitching staff is as deep as we've been in 10 years. We're as deep with quality arms as we've been in 10 years. Now, I temper that because the staff is so young. There are two seniors, and every other pitcher is a freshman or a sophomore."

Three sophomores - Casey Hudspeth, Nick Manganaro and Chase Lirette - figure to be the top three starters, while the fourth spot in the rotation may go to freshman Ty Pryor.

USF is not without hitters, even with the loss of Leslie, Ivany and Macaluso. First baseman Matt McHargue and right fielder Bryan Hierlmeier each return with 11 home runs a season ago, and senior Jeff Baisley figures to return to the power numbers of his first three seasons before a broken foot slowed him last year.

USF Softball Opens 2005 Season at FIU Diamond Fun and Sun Tournament
USF (60-14, 2004) begins the 2005 season in tournament action at the Florida International Diamond Fun and Sun Tournament from Friday to Sunday.

No. 21/22 USF will play Auburn and Kentucky on Friday. The Tigers have dropped out of the USA Today/NFCA poll after finishing ranked No. 23 last year. However, they have received votes in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll after finishing ranked No. 20 with a record of 42-18 and a second-place finish in the SEC. Currently, USF leads the all-time series 3-1. This will be the first meeting between the two teams. Last year the Wildcats posted a record of 25-31-1 and finished fifth in the SEC.

USF will take the field on Saturday to face Illinois State and FIU. The Bulls have not faced the Redbirds in nine years, with the last contest ending in a 6-4 Illinois State win in 1995. The only other time these two teams have met was back in 1989 with the Bulls getting a 3-1 victory. USF holds the slight edge in the all-time series against the Golden Panthers, 9-7. FIU is coming off a second-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference, tallying a record of 30-34. The Bulls are coming into this game riding a two-game losing streak against the Golden Panthers - 3-0, March 10, 2001, and 6-4, Feb. 8, 2002.

This will be only the fifth time since softball began at USF in 1985 that the Bulls will open up their season in tournament play. In the previous four seasons - 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004 - that USF opened its season in tournament action, the Bulls have posted a record of 3-1 in their opening game. Overall, USF has a record of 10-8-1 in season-opening tournament action.