By STEPHEN HANEWINCKEL
Special to GoUSFBulls.com

TAMPA - The USF women's basketball team played tough against the No. 7/8 Rutgers, but a second half push left the Bulls on the wrong end of a 72-66 game Saturday night before a crowd of 1,022 at the USF Recreation Center.

The Bulls found a couple stars in Inga Orekhova and Tiffany Conner. Orekhova played all 40 minutes going 4-for-9 from 3-point line with a total of 15 points. Conner also shot well, going 50 percent from the field with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Early foul trouble kept Jasmine Wynne out for most of the first half, but the senior still managed to score 12 points all in the second half to extend her streak of double-digit scoring games to 16.

“I thought our ball club kept fighting down the stretch,” USF head coach Jose Fernandez said. “They made Inga Orekhova work for every shot… They're long and athletic and they're No. 7 in the country for a reason. I was proud of the way the kids fought.” 

A quick start by Orekhova scoring back-to-back 3s got the Bulls started on an early 9-2 run. Solid field goal percentage continued for USF as the Bulls held the lead until the 9:48 mark when Rutgers took a 14-13 advantage and never looked back. With solid defense early, USF found themselves down only one at half, 29-27.

The second half left began an 11-4 run stretching the Rutgers lead to eight. USF (11-9, 3-3) had its chances to cut the consistent eight point lead as the Scarlet Knights got into early foul trouble. USF took advantage, but failed to come up on free throw attempts.

“We missed some front ends that really hurt us,” said Jose Fernandez. “We were in the bonus with about 11 minutes to go. We make convert and it's a different game.”

Rutgers' April Sykes scored 19 of her 23 points in the second half and prevented USF from making any comeback. Rutgers controlled most of the game on the boards, outrebounding the Bulls 36-26. 

USF will try to bounce back against Seton Hall at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the USF Recreation Center.