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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA - Head coach Jose Fernandez knew the Bulls were ready
to bust out after three great practices during the holiday break and his team
showed it in Saturday's 100-75 victory over Florida A&M at the Sun Dome.
Andrea Smith poured in 29 points and Andrell Smith added 26
points to help USF (10-2) bounce back from a 91-74 loss to Creighton on Dec. 22
in Cancun. The Bulls put the game away early in the second half with a 15-0 run
that had them ahead, 62-40, within the first seven minutes of the period before
Fernandez earned his 199th career win at USF.
"You have to put (the loss) behind you," Fernandez said. "The
last three days we've had three very good practices coming back from the break
refreshed."
The Smith twins each scored at least 20 points for the
second straight game and combined to go 50 percent from the field against FAMU
(3-9). Andrea Smith posted a team-high nine rebounds while Andrell Smith had
seven rebounds, seven steals and six assists in USF's highest scoring game of
the season.
"It's a credit to them. They live in the Muma Center and in
the Sun Dome," Fernandez said. "They're fun to coach because they work so hard."
The latest installment of the in-state rivalry started off
fast with the Bulls jumping out to a 12-8 lead within the first six minutes of
play with the teams combining for 24 field goal attempts. Andrell Smith was up
to five points at that point and heated back up at a crucial time for the Bulls
later in the first half.
Kimberly Sparkman's fourth 3-pointer gave FAMU a 23-20 lead
before Smith fired back with five straight points, including a layup off a
steal that sent her to the line to get into double figures. Five straight
points from Inga Orekhova put USF ahead, 42-29, but the Rattlers avoided a huge
deficit by answering with a 7-0 run. Sparkman added her fifth 3-pointer during
the scoring surge and went into the break with 15 points.
Andrell Smith snuck in a layup six seconds before the buzzer
to give USF a 44-36 lead at halftime. Smith had 14 points at the break and was
in double figures for the 10th consecutive time while Andrea Smith
had 11 points and seven rebounds. The Smith twins have been in double figures
in the same game eight times this season.
"We had to get this win, get some confidence and some
momentum on this break that we have here," Andrea Smith said.
USF turned a modest advantage into a large lead early in the
second half with the 15-0 run. Instead of slowing the game down, the Bulls kept
the heat on and used an 11-0 run to go ahead, 75-43, with less than 10 minutes
to play.
USF wound up forcing 23 turnovers and scored 28 points off
FAMU mistakes while improving to 6-1 at the Sun Dome.
"We just wanted to run, get some steals, easy buckets and
just stay together. I think we did all that and I think it showed at the end of
the game," Andrea Smith said.
Courtney Williams was the third Bull in double figures with
12 points and Orekhova posted a career-high six assists to help get Fernandez
close to a memorable milestone. USF's 13th-year head coach goes for
No. 200 Monday when the Bulls host Detroit Mercy at 2 p.m.
"To be in a position to win 200 games at a school with the
amount of turnover there is in college basketball today, it's special,"
Fernandez said. "(Hopefully) we can get it done here in 2012 and worry about the
Big East conference in 2013."
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