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TAMPA, Fla. ? The University of South Florida women's basketball team had an unlikely star this afternoon en route to its 72-65 win over New Hampshire today in the first round of the USF Best Western Roundball Classic at the Sun Dome.
Coming into today's game Melissa Dalembert was averaging just five points per contest and scored just 18 points during all of 2006-07. However today, the sophomore center ? and sister of National Basketball Association standout Samuel Dalembert of the Philadelphia 76ers ? poured in a career-high 19 points and hauled down 12 rebounds in a career outing.
“Melissa's effort today is simply a credit to her and her hard work in the off season,” said USF head coach Jose Fernandez. “She going to get better every practice and I think that what we saw today was hopefully just the beginning. Today really wasn't a surprise with the way she has been playing in practice and how hard she worked over the summer. We have to remember that this is a person that just started playing basketball in high school.”
The Bulls led by as many as 14 points, 20-6, after Dalembert hit two free throws with 8:35 left in the half. The Wildcats, however, fought their way back into the game using an 18-4 run to tie the game at 24-all on a jumper by Ashley Cerniglia with 3:56 left on the clock.
After it looked like it would end up suffering a hangover after its loss to No. 10/9 Duke on Thursday in the ESPNU Invitational, USF regrouped and closed the half on a 14-4 run to take a 36-28 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
The Bulls, however, would come out in the second half and use another 18-6 stretch to kick off the final stanza and put the game out of reach, 54-34.
New Hampshire would cut the lead to nine twice in the final five minutes but could not get any closer.
“You have to credit New Hampshire they played really hard and they kept battling,” said Jose Fernandez. “A lot of times we were up 19 and 20 (points) and we tried to put the game away, but they kept playing, and they kept attacking the basket and knocking down three's. The played with good effort and good intensity, but this was a day when a lot of our newcomers and some of our younger kids to play and get a lot of valuable minutes.”
In addition to Dalembert being in double figures, Jazmine Sepulveda tallied 17 points and Daiane Packer scored 12 points in the win.
USF, who improved its record to 2-1 on the year, will play Illinois State at 2 p.m. on Sunday on the final day of the event.
For season or individual game ticket information, please call 1-800-GoBulls.
USF Postgame Notes
Team Notes
- USF dominated the points in the paint outscoring the Wildcats 28-6.
- The Bulls also dominated the glass out rebounding New Hampshire 35-17 and 17-5 on the offensive glass.
- USF outscored the Wildcats in second chance points 35-17.
Individual Notes
- Caitlyn Mitryk and Porche Grant started their first collegiate games of their career.
- Daiane Packer's 12 points all came by way of the three-point arc ... She was 4-9 from the field and 4-8 from behind the arc ... Accounted for four of the Bulls' seven treys on the afternoon.
