USF Athletics

Bulls Hang Tough With No. 6 Maryland

November 09, 2013

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

TAMPA – The Bulls showed they can hang tough with one of the nation's best in Friday's season opener.

Courtney Williams led four Bulls in double figures with a career-high 21 points in USF's 78-70 loss to No. 6/8 Maryland before a crowd of 1,953 at the Sun Dome.

"Coach told us we can play with anybody. We believe him and tonight it showed," Williams said.
Sophomore Alisia Jenkins posted her fifth career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds to help the Bulls finish even with Maryland in rebounding at 49 apiece. The Terrapins ranked second in the nation in rebounding in 2012-13 and have led the ACC in the category the past three seasons.

"We talked to our team about matching their intensity on the glass. I thought we really attacked the glass," head coach Jose Fernandez said.

The Bulls' defense forced 19 turnovers while snapping All-American Alyssa Thomas' double-digit scoring streak at 28 games. Thomas finished with just four points in 10 minutes after getting into foul trouble early in the first half. The senior forward scored in double digits in 31 of 34 games last season.

"I'm glad we played them early because I think they're going to be a really good team," Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said.

Junior Tamara Taylor turned in an impressive USF debut with 14 points, while redshirt sophomore point guard Shalethia Stringfield scored 10 points in her first game in more than a year.

Maryland took a 43-28 lead into the break after USF shot 26 percent from the field (10-for-38). Williams' jumper cut the Bulls' deficit to 28-26 with 4:03 to play in the period before the Terrapins finished on a 15-2 run.

"That was just demoralizing," Fernandez said.

Maryland's bench produced 41 points while All-American Thomas had no points and two fouls.

Williams was up to 10 points at the half after going 3-for-6 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. The sophomore guard from Folkston, Ga., posted 13 double-digit scoring games during USF's NCAA tournament run in 2012-13.

Five straight points from Taylor and a Williams layup cut USF's deficit to 47-39 with 16:08 to play before Taylor really started to heat up at a crucial time. Maryland took a 15-point lead past the 11-minute mark before Taylor went on a 7-0 run of her own to cut USF's deficit to 59-51 with 9:59 remaining.

Taylor, a St. Petersburg native, played the past two seasons at Gulf Coast Community College and was ranked as the No. 17 JUCO recruit in the nation by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report.

"This is a Bay area kid that's a winner. She's relentless and she wants the ball in her hands," Fernandez said.

Inga Orekhova scored her first points of the season on a pair of free throws that got USF within four with 40 seconds remaining but the Bulls couldn't get any closer. Thomas sank two free throws with 21 seconds remaining and USF couldn't come up with another field goal the rest of the way.

"We made a couple of mistakes we shouldn't have made and we've got to get back into the lab tomorrow and make it happen Sunday," Williams said.

USF continues its three-game home stand 2 p.m. Sunday against Central Connecticut State. Purchase tickets HERE.