TAMPA, FEB. 3, 2016 – In front of a home crowd of over 2,000 fans, senior guard Courtney Williams (Folkston, Ga.) left her mark on USF Athletics, reaching 2,000 career points Wednesday night. Williams entered the night needing 28 points to become only the second player in program history to reach 2K and she collected exactly that in the Bulls 82-49 win over Cincinnati.
Williams finished with a game-high 28 points, putting her career mark at exactly 2,000. In the process, Williams became one of 11 active players in the nation with 2,000 points joining the leading scorer in the country Kelsey Plum (Washington) and fellow Player of the Year candidate Breanna Stewart.
Williams connected on 12-of-24 shots, including two three-pointers, and went 2-for-3 from the free throw line. Williams padded her stats in her tenth double-double outing of the year, adding a game-high 15 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in 35 minutes of action. Williams reached the milestone with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter, on an inbounds play drawn up for the senior.
“I was hyped, because I actually made the shot,” said Williams. “Coach drew up the play, and my teammate whispered in my ear 'you hit this shot, it's 2,000'; so when he drew up the play and I hit the shot, I was hyped. It felt good to be in front of my family and my friends and reach [2,000] at home.”
Three other Bulls reached double-digits, including senior Shalethia Stringfield (Jacksonville, Fla.). Stringfield notched 15 points and six rebounds, while reigning The American Freshman of the Week Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) added 11 points and two blocks in her 16th multi-three-point game this season. Ariadna Pujol (Mataro, Spain) came off the bench and once again provided a much-needed spark for the Bulls in the second quarter and scored a season-high 11 points, connecting on 6-of-9 free throws. The Bulls shot 70 percent from the charity stripe, converting on 14-of 20 attempts. Maria Jespersen (Arhus, Denmark) turned in a solid performance with a career-high 10 rebounds and eight points. In her first career start, junior Paige Cashin (Newark, Ohio) added a career high nine rebounds.
The Bulls (16-5, 9-2 The American) never trailed in the contest, taking their biggest lead of the game, 80-41, on two free throws by Pujol. USF collected a program record 48 defensive rebounds en route to a season high 65 rebounds, thanks in part to the Bearcats 26 percent shooting percentage. The Bulls dominated the offensive boards, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds, leading to 17 second chance points. USF outrebounded Cincinnati 65-34, for a rebounding margin of +21, the largest margin since losing the team's leading rebounder Alisia Jenkins (Statesboro, Ga.).
Cincinnati was the fourth consecutive opponent the Bulls held under 50 points. Ana Owens was the Bearcats lone scorer in double-digits with a team best 15 points.
USF returns to action Saturday, on the road at Temple. The game is air on ESPN3 and is scheduled to tip-off at 2 p.m.
The Bulls continue to climb in the polls, and have reached their highest rankings in program history. USF has been ranked as highly as No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches Poll this season; both are the highest rankings in program history. USF has appeared in both polls every week and placed as highly as No. 11 on some ballots.
USF has made 11 postseason tournament appearances and had three NCAA Tournament berths in Head Coach Jose Fernandez's 15 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to six 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 260 games.
– #GoBulls –
