Game Information
Date: Sunday, February 8, 2009
Tipoff: 4 p.m.
Location: Syracuse, NY
Arena: Carrier Dome
Capacity: 33,633
Series: Series tied 3-3
at USF: Syracuse leads 2-1
at Syracuse: Series tied 1-1
Neutral site: USF leads 1-0
Radio: 1010 WQYK-AM
Internet: GoUSFBulls.com (BullsVision)
Play-by-Play: Garrett Walvoord
Television: ESPNU
Play-by-Play: Dave Ryan
Color Commentary: Krista Blunk
Tickets: Call the Syracuse ticket office at (888) 366-3849

Game Notes | USF | Syracuse | Updated Weekly BIG EAST Notes

The University of South Florida women's basketball team looks to get back into the win column as it travels to Central New York to face Syracuse on Sunday, Feb. 8 in the Carrier Dome ... Tip off is slated for 4 p.m. ... Fans can hear the game live on 1010 AM CBS Sports Radio with Garrett Walvoord calling all the action ... The game will also be televised live nationwide on ESPNU - USF's first and only appearance on the network this season - with Dave Ryan handling the play-by-play and Krista Blunk providing the color commentary ... In addition, fans can follow all the action via the world wide web by logging onto GoUSFBulls.com and selecting the BullsVision Premium option for live audio streaming ... Sunday's game is the fourth game away from the friendly confines of the Sun Dome, for the Bulls, in the last six games ... During the previous five-game stretch, coming into Sunday's game against the Orange, USF is 2-3 with both wins coming on the road against Providence (86-62) on Jan. 20 and Rutgers (59-56) on Jan. 31 ... Following the game with Syracuse, the Bulls will play two straight on their home floor and three of their next five in the Sun Dome ... USF is coming off a disappointing 71-56 loss to Marquette on Tuesday night ... The game was the second of the year between the two schools with the Golden Eagles sweeping the season series ... Marquette also defeated the Bulls on Jan. 3 in Milwaukee, 68-60, in the BIG EAST opener for both schools ... On Tuesday, Shantia Grace led the Bulls with 13 points while Jessica Lawson added 11 points in the loss ... Porche Grant chipped in with a game-high 12 rebounds         on the night, marking the first time in three games that she has pulled down double-digit rebounds ... Grace paces the way on the year netting 15.0 points while Janae Stokes and Jezmine Sepulveda are netting 12.5 and 12.4 points per game respectively ... Grant continues to lead the team on the glass grabbing 8.4 rebounds per outing while Brittany Denson is second pulling down 7.0 per contest.  

Scouting Syracuse
Like USF, Syracuse comes into Sunday's game having struggled of late after starting the season with an impressive record ... The Orange are currently 14-8 overall and 3-6 in BIG EAST play ... They have dropped five of their last six games after kicking off the year with a 13-3 record ... Syracuse's lone win during the previous six games came at the hands of Marquette, 66-55, on Jan. 27 in Milwaukee.

The Orange place four players in double figures led by Erica Morrow's 16.6 points per game and Chandrea Jones' 16.0 points per outing ... Nicole Michael nand Juanita Ward round out the double-figure scorers netting 13.2 and 10.0 points per game respectively ... Three of Syracuse's top rebounders are also among the top four in scoring ... Jones paces the team on the glass grabbing 8.4 rebounds per game while Michael is hauling down 7.6 boards per outing and  7.2 rebounds per contest.

The Series vs. The Orange
Sunday's game between USF and Syracuse will mark the seventh game between the two schools ... The all-time series is tied 3-3 ... The Bulls are 3-1 against the Orange since they have joined the BIG EAST Conference back before the 2005-06 season, and are 1-0 all-time in the Carrier Dome.

USF has won three of the last four games against the Orange after dropping the first two of the series which dates back to the first ever meeting during the 1989-90 season.

There has been one overtime game between USF and Syracuse with that meeting coming in the first round of the 2008 BIG EAST Conference Tournament in Hartford ... The Bulls handed the Orange a heartbreaking 68-67 defeat on March 3, 2008.

Last Year vs. Syracuse
USF dropped its fourth straight game with a 67-60 loss to Syracuse in the Sun Dome on Jan. 12, 2008 ... The loss was the third of what would be a five-game skid for the Bulls.

USF shot just 30.1 percent (22-73) from the field for the game and 23.8 percent (5-21) from behind the three-point arc ... In addition, the Bulls shot 68.8 percent (11-16) from the charity stripe marking the 15th time in their last 16 games that they have hit for less than 70 percent from the line.

Shantia Grace scored 16 points and dished out five assists in 38 minutes ... Brittany Denson added 10 points and a career-high tying 13 rebounds ... She also added a career-high five blocked shots, including four in the first four minutes of the second half ... It was Denson's second straight double-double - her second with USF - and the eighth of her career dating back to her time at Miami.

USF's overtime win over the Orange in the BIG EAST Tournament first round was the Bulls' third straight victory and their fourth in the last six games ... USF had to overcome a 14-point first half deficit and a 10-point second half deficit en route to the win.

The contest was USF's first overtime game of the season and the first since it defeated Notre Dame, 80-76, on Jan. 23, 2007 ... The win also improved the Bulls' all-time record in overtime games to 16-10.

Grace poured in a game-high 25 points and dished out 11 assists in the win marking her first double-double of the season and the sixth of her career ... Grace's 25 points gave her 546 on the year marking the fourth best single season total in school history ... She also mover into ninth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,344 career points.

Last Time Out For The Bulls
USF is coming off a disappointing 71-56 loss to Marquette on Tuesday in the Sun Dome ... The loss was the Bulls' fourth in their last five games on their home floor after winning a record 12 straight.

Shantia Grace scored 13 points to lead the Bulls while Jessica Lawson added 11 points in the loss ... Porche Grant grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. 

The Bulls shot just 32.7 percent (17-52) from the field and 52.9 percent (18-34) from the free throw line ... USF was also outrebounded 54-38, including 22-11 on the offensive boards.

USF Still One Of The Nation's Top Offenses
Although they are not on the scoring pace that they were earlier this season, the Bulls are still among the nations leaders in scoring offense ... USF comes into Sunday's game with Syracuse as the nation's fourth ranked team in the country in scoring netting 80.1 points per game on the year ... They find themselves behind UConn (86.7 ppg) and North Carolina (84.5 ppg).

USF has scored 100 or more points in five games this season, 90 or more in nine outings and 80 or more in 14 of 23 games this year while holding its opposition to less then 60 points eight times and fewer that 50 points six times.

Sharing The Wealth
Coming into the Syracuse game, the Bulls have had five players record at least one game this year with 20 or more points ... In addition, three players have logged at least three outings with no fewer than 25 points ... Jazmine Sepulveda leads the team with 20-point games recording four on the year.

Treymendous
The Bulls set a new school record for three-point shots made in a game with 15 against Jackson State on Dec. 28 ... USF passed the old mark of 14, originally set vs. Jacksonville on Dec. 30, 2001, and then tied the record this season against Grambling on Dec. 18 ... The Bulls have hit double-digit three point shots five times this season.

USF hit 12 three-pointers (12-27) against Providence on Jan. 20 ... The 12 trey's is the third most made this season and the fifth most all-time.

Jose Fernandez Becomes USF Basketball's Career Leader In Wins
USF head coach Jose Fernandez is already the all-time winningest coach in the program's history, now he has made his mark as the all-time winningest coach in USF basketball history ... On Dec. 28, with the Bulls' win over Jackson State, Fernandez surpassed former men's coach Bobby Paschal with 128 career wins ... Paschal logged 127 wins in 10 seasons (286 games) ... Fernandez is currently 132-130 in his ninth season.

USF is now one of six Big East schools where the winningest basketball coach is a women's basketball coach ... It joins Connecticut (Geno Auriemma), Notre Dame (Muffet McGraw), Rutgers (Theresa Grentz), Seton Hall (Phyllis Mangina) and Villanova (Harry Perretta).

Putting Up A 30-Spot
Fortunately this is on the forcing end and not the committing end, but coming into the Syracuse game, USF has forced it's opponents into 30 or more turnovers in seven of it's 23 games this year.

In their two games of the USF Shootout, the Bulls forced Central Connecticut and Loyola into 33 and 35 turnovers respectively after not accomplishing back-to-back miscues during the 2007-08 season ... In addition, Coppin State had 31 turnovers on Nov. 2.

USF forced North Florida into 39 miscues on Dec. 14 ... That came just one-game after the Bulls forced FIU into 34 turnovers on Dec. 5.

Most recently, on Dec, 20, Northern Arizona handed the ball over 35 times - which equals the second most this season ... Southern had 31 turnovers on Dec. 21.

Prior to this season, the last time an opponent of USF recorded 30 or more turnovers was on Nov. 18, 2006 when Texas Southern handed the ball over 39 times in an 89-37 loss to the Bulls ... In that game USF scored 50 of it's 89 points off turnovers.

The last time that the Bulls recorded better than 30 turnovers twice in a season was during the 2003-04 campaign when Wagner had 32 in the season opener on Nov. 21 and Florida Atlantic had 35 on Dec. 30, 2003 ... USF has never had three opponents turn the ball over 30 or more times in one season.

Give Me That
In addition to the seven 30 turnover games this season by USF opponents, the Bulls also recorded four games with 20 or more steals ... The Bulls had 23 against Central Connecticut, 20 against Loyola (MD), 23 against Coppin State and 20 against North Florida ... Last season the Bulls didn't log more that 17 steals in any one game, and only had double-digit steals in eight games.

Prior to this year, the last time the Bulls had 20 steals in a game was against Texas Southern on Nov. 18, 2006 when they had exactly 20.

Double Dipping'
Melissa Dalembert recorded the Bulls' first double-double of the season, against Loyola (MD) on Nov. 16, in the championship game of the USF Shootout with a 13-point, 12-rebound performance ... In addition, it was Dalembert's second career double-double following her 19-point, 12-rebound effort against New Hampshire on Nov. 17, 2007.

It took 11 games before another member of the Bulls recorded a double-double ... Jessica Lawson made the list with a 16-point, 10-rebound effort vs. Jackson State on Dec. 28 ... Lawson then logged the Bulls' third double-double of the season with a 14-point, 16-rebound effort against Louisville on Jan. 14 ... Her 16 rebounds marks a career-high ... Lawson logged her second double-double in three games with a 12-point, 12-rebound game at Providence on Jan. 20 ... It was her seventh double-double at USF and the eighth of her collegiate career.

Porche Grant turned in USF's fourth double-double of the season with an 11-point, 11-rebound effort against Pittsburgh on Jan. 17 ... It was her first of the season and the third of her career.

After coming close on several other occasions Brittany Denson finally recorded her first double-double of the year ... She tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds on Jan. 20 at Providence ... It was her third double-double at USF and the ninth of her collegiate career.

Although USF has obviously had numerous double-doubles in it's programs history, it has only had one triple-double in it's 37 years of competition ... Monica Encheverria accomplished the feat on Dec. 3, 1999 against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when she recorded 13 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists ... In addition to Encheverria, the USF men's program has had two triple-doubles in its history with McHugh Mattis doing it at Winston Salem State on Dec. 7, 2006 (22 points, 10 rebounds, 10 blocked shots) and Adrian Hillman recording the first-ever in school history against Florida Atlantic on Dec. 4, 1996 (13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists).

USF Establishes Another Stellar Win Total
Although the Bulls' play has been up and down of late, it has still posted one of the top win totals in school history with at least eight games to go (seven regular season and one BIG EAST Tournament game) ... USF's current 16 wins is tied for the fourth most in school history with the 2007-08 (16-15) and 1977-78 (16-10) team's ... Should the Bulls defeat Syracuse, they would be just two wins shy of the third most in school history, 19, set by the 2005-06 squad.

Bulls Have Streaks Snapped In Back-To-Back Games
USF had it's nine-game winning streak snapped, which was tied for the second longest in school history, with its 68-60 loss to Marquette on Jan. 3 in Milwaukee ... The Bulls also won nine consecutive during the 1972-73 campaign ... The program's record for consecutive wins is 10, winning the last two games of the 1975-76 season and the first eight of the 1976-77 campaign.

Like in the previous outing against Marquette, the Bulls had a long winning streak snapped with their loss to Connecticut on Jan. 6 ... USF came into the game with a record 12-game home winning streak dating back to last season, however, that stretch was snapped with the 83-37 setback to the Huskies ... The Bulls surpassed the old mark of nine-consecutive with their 82-43 win over Northern Arizona on Dec. 20 ... USF held the old nine-game mark three separate times winning the last three games of 2004-05 and the first six games of 2005-06, during the 2004-05 campaign, and taking the last seven games of the 1976-76 campaign and the first two of 1977-78. 

Working Overtime
USF's overtime win vs. St. John's improves the Bulls' all-time record in extra session games to 17-10 and 2-0 this season ... Prior to the win over the Red Storm, USF's last overtime game came earlier this year - on Nov. 28, 2008 - when it defeated Iowa, in the second game of the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, 82-79.

In addition, USF is 10-3 in overtime games under Jose Fernandez and it has won its last seven extra session games. 

USF A Lock When Leading At The Break
Through its 23 games of the 2008-09 season, the Bulls are a perfect 14-0 when leading at the half ... Their two wins when behind at the break came with an 80-66 triumph at Tulane on Dec. 30. 2008 and a 81-71 overtime victory over St. John's on Jan. 10 ... In those games, USF trailed  36-33 after the first 20 minutes against the Green Wave and 42-37 at the break against the Red Storm before going on to the win.

For More Notes On The USF Women's Basketball Team Select The PDF Version.