Williams' Buzzer-Beater Sends Bulls to WNIT Semis
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
STARKVILLE, Miss., March 30, 2014 – The foul-plagued Bulls found a way to book a trip to the program's second WNIT semifinal by shocking Mississippi State, 60-58, in the final seconds on the road Sunday night.
The Bulldogs pulled ahead on a layup by Martha
Alwal with 4.2 seconds remaining, but
Courtney Williams' buzzer-beating 3-pointer stunned 3,006 in attendance at Humphrey Coliseum and allowed the Bulls to continue pursuing WNIT history.
USF (23-12) is looking to become the first program in WNIT play to win the title twice and the Bulls will face the winner of the Rutgers-Bowling Green quarterfinal that takes place 7 p.m. Monday at the
Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Ohio.
"Coach drew up the ball where I circled around and he just told me, 'You've got 4 seconds to score,' so I took the 4 seconds and I did my best," said Williams, who finished with 13 points. "I knew I had to score or we were going to lose, so I had to be confident."
Shalethia Stringfield did a ton to help get the Bulls in a position to win by posting a career-high 20 points. The redshirt sophomore from Jacksonville scored 16 points after the break while Williams and senior center
Akila McDonald were forced to sit for a big portion of the half because of foul trouble.
"I knew we had a couple of people in foul trouble and I just didn't want my team to go down with a loss," said Stringfield, who added a career-high five steals, five assists and four rebounds.
Senior
Inga Orekhova picked up her fourth foul with 4:36 remaining but found a way to finish with 15 points to help the Bulls keeping their season rolling. USF has won four straight and 10 of their past 11 games.
Sophomore forward
Alisia Jenkins continued her solid season with 12 points and eight rebounds, while USF stepped up its game after the break by shooting 53.6 percent against a tough Bulldogs defense.
The teams went into the half tied at 22 after what appeared to be a buzzer-beating basket by Jenkins with 0.3 seconds remaining was waved off by refs after a clock malfunction. Jenkins led the Bulls with eight points and five rebounds as both teams had a hard time getting into a groove on offense.
USF and Mississippi State each went 8-for-30 from the field (26.7 percent). Only Jenkins,
Orekhova (six points), Williams (four points) and Stringfield (four points) scored for the Bulls.
Head coach
Jose Fernandez had to carefully manage the lineup early as Williams picked up her third foul with 3:21 remaining in the first half, and
Orekhova and McDonald each picked up two fouls in the opening period. The Bulldogs closed the half on a 10-1 run as
Breanna Richardson and Kendra Grant led the way with six points apiece.
McDonald picked her fourth foul with 17:49 remaining, which was a big problem for the Bulls considering the way the senior had been producing in the WNIT. The Decatur, Ga., native scored a career-high 21 points and went 10-for-11 from the field in a second-round victory over Stetson on March 23 and posted 11 points and six rebounds in USF's win over George Washington on March 27.
Williams, USF's top scorer this season, picked up her fourth foul with 15:43 remaining and four fouls by the Bulls within 15 seconds paved the way for the Bulldogs to grab a 32-28 lead.
Stringfield stepped up with stars on the bench and jumped into double figures with a layup that cut USF's deficit to 34-32 with 12:03 to play. Stringfield has scored in double digits four times this season and ignited life back into the Bulls down the stretch.
"With
Akila McDonald,
Inga Orekhova and
Courtney Williams in foul trouble, that really hurt us," Fernandez said. "We're a different type of basketball team without those guys on the floor, but these guys just found a way to get it done."
Stringfield scored five points to fuel a 12-0 run that gave the Bulls a 48-40 lead with 6:26 remaining, but USF's foul trouble continued inside of 5 minutes remaining.
Orekhova's jumper spotted USF a 50-44 lead with 4:39 remaining before she picked up her fourth foul in flagrant fashion just 3 seconds later.
Stringfield pumped her career high up to 20 points with a three-point play to extend the lead to 53-46 with 4:10 remaining and
Orekhova's free throws gave the Bulls a cushion by a 56-50 margin with 2:40 to play.
USF took a 57-56 lead into the final minute and the Bulldogs pulled ahead with a layup by
Alwal with 4.2 seconds remaining, which set the Bulls up for the dramatic finish. Williams drove down the court, found an opening on the right wing and her 3-pointer in traffic handed Mississippi State its first loss at home in 12 games against non-conference opponents this season.
"I think she was really disappointed that she got in the foul trouble she did and she sat as many minutes as she did, but she's the type of kid that wants the ball in her hands," Fernandez said. "Us coaches, you want to get your best player the basketball and she got it, got a good look and the ball went in."
Grant scored a game-high 22 points and Richardson added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulldogs (22-14).
"It's a shame one of these two teams had to finish off their season because I thought both teams left everything on the floor," Fernandez said. "I think Vic (Schaefer) has done a remarkable job getting Mississippi State basketball back on the map."
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@USFWBB on Twitter to get important WNIT updates on Monday night and check back at GoUSFBulls.com after the Rutgers-Bowling Green game to find out details about the Bulls' semifinal test. Â
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