| |
|
|
| |
|
2 |
|
|
|
USF
|
36 |
29 |
-- |
65 |
| SMU |
34 |
49 |
-- |
83 |
| Scoring Leaders |
| Player |
FG-A
|
3FG-A
|
FT-A
|
TP
|
| USF - Andrea Smith |
5-15 |
3-6 |
4-9 |
17 |
| UT - Kathleen Nash |
4-6 |
2-4 |
6-6 |
16 |
| Rebounding Leaders |
| Player |
|
|
|
| USF - Porsche Grant |
4 |
5 |
9 |
| SMU - Ashley Gayle |
6 |
8 |
14 |
|
|
|
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Dec. 20, 2010) –
The University of South Florida women's basketball team dropped a hard fought 83-65 decision to Texas tonight in the final game of the BTI Classic at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
The Bulls finish the Classic with a 2-1 record and drop to 9-5 on the year. Texas improves to 8-3 overall.
Andrea Smith paced the way for USF with 17 points while twin sister Andrell added 15 points in the loss.
The Bulls came out in the first half and played, what was by far their best basketball of the season. USF led for the majority of the first half, until Kathleen Nash gave Texas its first lead of the game, 19-18, on a three-point shot with 7:59 left in the first stanza.
From then on both the Longhorns and Bulls would go back and forth exchanging baskets and leads, with neither team leading by more than three points during the final seven-plus minutes.
Texas would seemingly look like it was going to enter the locker room at the break with a one-point advantage, however Porsche Grant capped off a nine-point first half performance hitting her first career three-point shot – falling out of bounds – as time expired giving USF a 36-34 lead at the intermission.
The Bulls would come out in the second half and start the final stanza off with an Andrea Smith trey to give USF a five-point advantage, 39-34.
The Bulls then continued to hold the lead, and keep Texas back on its heels, until the 11:22 mark as Sasha Bernard hit a driving lay-up putting the green and gold up three, 56-63.
Bernard's basket, however, would be the last that USF would hit until Kaneisha Saunders hit a lay-up, ending an 8-0 Longhorns run. That stretch gave the Longhorns their biggest lead of the game, to that point five points, 61-56, with 7:50 left in the game.
Texas would eventually end the game on a 17-5 run during the last five minutes of the game, while hitting 11-12 free throws to ice the game.
Grant would finish the game with nine points and a team-high nine rebounds, while Saunders and Leondra Doomes-Stephens added eight and seven points respectively.
USF shot 37.9 percent (25-66) from the field, however, was a dismal 45 percent (9-20) from the free throw line.
USF will take a short break for the Christmas holiday before getting back to action and closing out its non-conference schedule at Nebraska on Dec. 30 at 6:05 p.m. ET. The Bulls will return home to begin the balance of their BIG EAST play when it faces Cincinnati on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.
