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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA - The Bulls gave No. 3 UConn a battle early on but
couldn't pull off an upset on Senior Day at the Sun Dome.
Inga Orekhova posted a team-high 13 points and Andrea Smith
and Alisia Jenkins added 10 points apiece as USF finished off its home slate
with an 85-51 loss on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulls (19-9, 8-7) shot 25 percent from the field and had
a hard time stopping UConn's top scorers. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis
finished with a career-high 32 points and Stefanie Dolson matched her career
high with 25 points to help the Huskies win for the 15th time in
their past 16 games. UConn is 11-0 on the road this season.
"You can't shoot 25 percent from the floor against a top
five team in the country. We didn't give ourselves a chance," USF head coach Jose
Fernandez said.
USF showed its ability to hang tough with UConn early on in
the programs' 12th meeting. The Huskies went on a 13-0 run in the
opening minutes to grab a 15-6 advantage while the Bulls went 0-for-10 from the
field during the stretch. USF answered back with a 9-0 run and later used a 5-0
run to cut its deficit to 23-20 with about eight minutes to go before the break.
That's as close as USF would get, however, as UConn's scorers heated up on the way to a 50-31 halftime lead. Mosqueda-Lewis went
4-for-6 from long range and was already up to 24 points at the break while Dolson
had 18 points. The Huskies made all 14 attempts from the free throw line in the first half.
"That's what they do. You have to avoid the 8-2 run and the
10-2 run. I thought we did that last year up there and and we didn't do that
today," Fernandez said.
An Andrell Smith layup 10 seconds into the second half got
USF within 17 but the Bulls couldn't get any closer while shooting 20 percent
from the field after the break.
"A lot of that had to do with how they defended us, how they
challenged shots and how they defended screens," Fernandez said.
The Bulls finish up their regular season 8 p.m. Monday at
Georgetown and Fernandez said it's crucial for USF to finish on a high note.
"Monday is a must win for us to get to the NCAA tournament,"
he said.
USF already has clinched a first-round bye for the Big East
Championship that takes place March 8-12 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.
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