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If you weren't there ...
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The USF women's basketball team stayed close in the first half, but DePaul slowly pushed the lead into double digits as the Blue Demons defeated the Bulls, 75-61, Monday night in the regular season finale for both teams.
USF, which heads into the BIG EAST tournament at 15-14 overall and 6-10 in the BIG EAST, received a solid day from junior Leondra Doomes-Stephens, who contributed 17 points on the night.
Freshman Tiffany Conner contributed 13, while Jessica Lawson, on Senior Night, had a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards.z
USF will now head up to Hartford, Conn., to take part in the BIG EAST Tournament later this week against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
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2 |
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DePaul
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32 |
43 |
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75 |
| USF |
27 |
34 |
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61 |
| Scoring Leaders |
| Player |
FG-A
|
3FG-A
|
FT-A
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TP
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| DePaul - Hampton |
7-12 |
4-7 |
5-5 |
23 |
| USF - Doomes-Stephens |
6-19 |
3-8 |
2-2 |
17 |
| Rebounding Leaders |
| Player |
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| DePaul - Hampton |
2 |
5 |
7 |
| USF - Lawson |
6 |
7 |
13 |
| Misc. Leaders |
| Player |
Steals
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Assists
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Blocks
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| DePaul - Martin |
2 |
5 |
0 |
| USF - Doomes-Stephens |
5 |
4 |
0 |
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TAMPA - The University of South Florida women's basketball team closed out its 2009-10 regular season tonight looking to win its second consecutive game and draw from the momentum of last Saturday's thrilling last second win at Louisville. Unfortunately for the Bulls, their short bench seemed to catch up with them as DePaul handed USF a 75-61 loss at the Sun Dome.
Leondra Doomes-Stephens led four players in double figures with 17 points while Tiffany Conner added a career-high 13 points in the loss.
Jessica Lawson recorded her BIG EAST leading 17th double-double of the year with an 11-point, 13-rebound outing, and KaNeisha Saunders added 10 points.
Both teams went back-and-forth for most of the first half until DePaul took the lead for good, 17-15, when Katherine Harry hit a jumper - out of a timeout - off a Taylor Pikes assist with 7:16 left in the first half.
The Blue Demons (20-10, 9-7 BIG EAST) would then use a 10-5 run capped off by a Sam Quigley steal and lay-up to make the score 27-20, with 2:53 left before the intermission, marking its biggest lead of the half.
DePaul would eventually take a 32-27 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Blue Demons would come out in the second half and immediately take control of the game in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza.
Keisha Hampton would hit the first of four consecutive three-pointers that would take the score from 49-35 with 12:16 left in the game to 55-37 on Sam Quigley's trey with 10:48 left, giving DePaul what would be its biggest lead of the contest 18 points.
Despite trailing most of the game, USF (15-14, 6-10 BIG EAST) would still not give up down the stretch.
The Bulls would force the Blue Demons into three turnovers over the next 6:30 - and outscored DePaul 16-8 during that stretch - to cut the lead to 10 points, 63-53, when KaNeisha Saunders stole the ball from Anna Martin and went the length of the court for a lay-up with 4:18 left. That would be as close as USF would get the rest of the game.
On the night, the Bulls would shoot 36.4 percent (24-66) from the field. The Blue Demons hit 49.1 percent (27-55) of their shots in the win, including an impressive 63.6 percent (14-22) in the second half.
That second half shooting also included a stellar 66.7 percent clip (6-9) from behind the three-point arc.
The Bulls will now gear up for the BIG EAST Conference Tournament at the XL Center in Hartford beginning March 5. Tournament pairings will be announced later tonight.
Check back with GoUSFBulls.com for more information about the BIG EAST Tournament.
