By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA - The Bulls hit the road and took the fast line to 5-0 Wednesday night in Asheville, N.C.

Two straight layups by Caitlin Rowe sparked USF's opening 11-2 run and the Bulls never looked back in a 77-29 win at UNC Asheville. Freshman point guard Courtney Williams set career highs in points (16), rebounds (7) and steals (6) as USF improved to 5-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

The USF defense forced 37 turnovers, set a season high with 24 steals and allowed just 12 field goals in its best performance of the season despite not pressing the entire second half.

"This team can be very good if we trust our help and communicate better," head coach Jose Fernandez said.

Andrea Smith also scored 16 points, Andrell Smith added 13 points and Caitlin Rowe got into double figures with 10 points. The game proved to be a total team effort as 10 different Bulls scored and nobody played more than 27 minutes.

"We had 20 assists on 29 baskets - that's pretty good," Fernandez said. "That's sharing the basketball and I'm pleased with that."

Nine different players scored to help the Bulls build a 45-16 halftime lead while UNC Asheville committed 21 turnovers before the break. USF had 13 steals up to that point with Andrea Smith and Inga Orekhova each totaling four apiece. Smith ended up tying a career high with six steals.

USF set a single-game season high in free throw percentage (72.7) and set a season low with 13 turnovers, but Fernandez thinks the Bulls can keep getting better.

"There are plenty of things we can get on tape to improve on," he said.

USF returns home to the Sun Dome to face North Florida on Saturday at 1 p.m.