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TAMPA, MARCH 7, 2015 – A huge offensive night from Alisia Jenkins and a relentless team effort on the boards made it easy for the USF women's basketball team to stay rested in Saturday's American Athletic Conference Quarterfinals win over Memphis.
The Bulls (25-6 overall) out-rebounded the Tigers 50-22 at the Mohegan Sun, playing junior guard Courtney Williams for a season-low 20 minutes in a balanced 79-51 win. Jenkins' 23 points tied a career high for the junior, and the Bulls got 39 points off the bench to advance to Sunday night's semifinals on ESPNU.
Jenkins wasted little time in building a cushion for the Bulls in the first half, attacking the rim aggressively for a team-high 19 first-half points. Jenkins was a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line and 6-8 from the field, adding 11 first-half rebounds as the Bulls out-boarded Memphis 31-10 in the first half.
Outside of Jenkins' big half, the Bulls ran a balanced offensive attack as five different players attempted between five and six shots, all scoring to send USF to the locker room up 42-19.
USF pulled it's three starting guards just two minutes into the second half, building the lead to as much as 36 with the help of strong outside shooting from senior reserve Tamara Taylor. Taylor hit three of her game-high five 3-pointers in the second half, leading a herd of six scorers off the USF bench, and finishing with 15 points for the Bulls.
Eleven different Bulls scored, and no USF player spent more than 26 minutes on the floor as head coach Jose Fernandez rested his team in preparation for the rest of the tournament.
NOTABLES: - Courtney Williams failed to score 10 points in a game for just the second time in the last 40 games, shooting 3-6 from the field in 20 minutes. The last time Williams scored less than 10 points was also against Memphis, during a 33-point win.
- Alisia Jenkins recorded her 22nd double-double of the season, and her 5th 20-point game of the season.
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