TAMPA – USF rallied at the end of regulation and ruled overtime in a 66-63 victory over No. 21/19 DePaul on Tuesday night before a rowdy crowd of 626 at the USF Recreation Center. 

Akila McDonald tied the game with a layup with nine seconds left in the second half on her first made shot of the night.  

Tiffany Conner stole the ball from DePaul's Anna Martin, DePaul's Jasmine Penny fouled Inga Orekhova, but Orekhova missed the first free throw to send the game to overtime.    

Orekhova gave the Bulls a 62-60 lead in overtime with a layup. McDonald made two key free throws to extend the lead to 64-60.  Jasmine Wynne then added two more points to seal the win for the Bulls.

USF held DePaul to 1-of-5 in overtime and earned its first victory over a ranked opponent since the Bulls handed No. 21 Georgetown a 60-55 loss last season.

Kaneisha Saunders scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, Wynne added 16 points and extended her double-digit scoring streak to 15 straight games. Orekhova added 13 points for USF (11-8, 3-2 Big East).

“Akila McDonald finished with a layup, hit two free throws and got a big rebound,” head coach Jose Fernandez said. “She's been in the doghouse a little bit, but we challenged her and what we saw from her was very good.”

DePaul hit 11 3-pointers in the game, but shot only 20 percent in overtime against a pressure USF defense. DePaul came in averaging 77 points per game.

“DePaul's a high scoring team and we held them to 63 points,” Fernandez said.

USF and DePaul had similar first halves.  USF shot 39.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the three-point line.  DePaul shot 40 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from the 3-point line.  

“We locked down, we just knew that we didn't want them to score anymore and we needed them not to score anymore,” McDonald said.

Saunders gave the Bulls a spark off the bench scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half.  Caitlin Rowe shot 2-of-5 and added four points in the opening period.

“I thought I would pick it up by coming in and giving us the energy we needed,” Saunders said.

DePaul leads the Big East in 3-point field goals made (8.5 per game).  The Blue Demons opened the first half going 3-4 from behind the arc. USF trailed DePaul by only two points at the half, 30-28.

The Bulls took their first lead since the first minute of play on a 3-pointer from Orekhova at the beginning of the second half with just over 18 minutes left.  DePaul responded with a three to regain the lead.

USF shot 42.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the 3-point line to grab the momentum in the second half.

“Everybody stepped up and did what they needed to do and we got a win,” Saunders said.

USF returns to action on Saturday against Big East opponent Rutgers at 7 p.m. back in the USF Recreation Center.

The Bulls played their home nonconference slate to perfection this season.