University of South Florida
#11 Colorado State
Williams Leads Bulls to NCAA Second Round
March 20, 2016 | Women's Basketball
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
LOS ANGELES, MARCH 19, 2016 – Courtney Williams set USF's new NCAA tournament single-game scoring record with 31 points to power the sixth-seeded Bulls to a 48-45 win over No. 11 seed Colorado State in the first round Saturday night.
No. 21 USF (24-9) advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season. The Bulls will face third seed and host UCLA back at Pauley Pavilion on Monday at 9 p.m. (ET).
"I think with everything we've gone through, we still haven't played our best basketball all year and we haven't had our best moment yet, but I was pleased that we did enough to survive and move on," head coach Jose Fernandez said.
Williams topped USF's previous NCAA game high of 25 points by scoring 18 points in the second half. The senior guard from Folkston, Ga., added six rebounds and four steals in her fifth 30-point game of the season.
“I was told by my uncle, he told me basically when you get in a zone like that it's such a fragile place to be in,” Williams said. “Anything can take you out of that zone, so you've got to just stay focused. That's what I tried to do.”
No. 22 CSU (31-2) had its 28-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time since a 49-48 setback at Penn on Nov. 24. The Rams turned the ball over 13 times while the Bulls scored 18 points off takeaways.
USF also got a spark from senior Shalethia Stringfield, who posted seven points, a team-high five assists and four rebounds. The Bulls' offense was efficient with just seven total turnovers and three in the second half.
Senior Alisia Jenkins stepped up with a game-high 13 rebounds, seven on the defensive end, to help the Bulls finish with a 40-37 edge on the boards. Sophomore Maria Jespersen tied her career high with 10 rebounds.
The first matchup between two ranked teams in the NCAA first round since 2012 was a battle from start to finish.
CSU opened the game on a 10-0 run before the Bulls and their biggest star got going. Williams made USF's first field goal with 2:24 remaining and USF cut its deficit to 12-8 by the end of the quarter. USF was able to make up some ground by limiting CSU to one field goal in its final seven attempts of the quarter.
Williams was all the way up to double figures early in the second quarter and USF took a 17-15 lead on a 3-pointer by Kitija Laksa with 5:56 remaining. The Bulls jumped ahead, 20-15, during their 12-0 run but ended up trailing, 24-23, at halftime.
CSU's Jamie Patrick led all players with 14 points in the half and her fourth 3-pointer pulled the Rams to within one with 1:43 to go before the break. Williams' 13 points carried a USF squad that shot 25 percent (7-for-27) in the opening half.
Saturday's back-and-forth battle featured three lead changes in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Williams scored six points during USF's 7-0 run and a Laura Ferreira's layup gave the Bulls a 36-30 advantage with 2:39 to go in the quarter.
USF headed into the fourth quarter with a 40-32 lead after keeping CSU scoreless for more than five minutes during the game-changing run. The Bulls outscored the Rams, 17-8, in the third quarter with 12 coming from Williams, who matched USF's previous NCAA single-game record with 25 points.
"She was very confident when she shot it and her teammates did a good job of getting her the ball in great spaces," Fernandez said.
Williams and Jenkins combined for six points in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to help give the Bulls a 46-34 lead, which was their largest advantage of the game.
The Rams roared back on an 11-2 run and a 3-pointer by Hannah Tvrdy cut USF's lead to 48-45 with 1:52 remaining. CSU had two shots at tying the game, but Patrick's eighth attempt from long range bounced off the rim with six seconds left. Sofie Tryggedsson's last-second attempt from beyond the arc rimmed out.
"I knew going in they were much better than an 11 seed," Fernandez said.
USF now turns its attention to Monday's second-round test against UCLA, which defeated No. 14 seed Hawaii, 66-50, in Saturday's opening game at Pauley Pavilion.
“We have an amazing coaching staff, so whatever the game plan is going to be we just have to follow it and I think we'll be fine,” Williams said.
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 –
