By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
UNCASVILLE, Conn., MARCH 5, 2016 – Courtney Williams broke a tournament record with a 29 points to power second-seeded USF to a 73-60 quarterfinal victory over SMU at the American Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday.
USF (22-8, 14-4) will face the No. 6 Tulsa-No. 3 Temple winner in the semifinals Sunday at 6:30 p.m. (TV: ESPNU). Head coach Jose Fernandez's No. 20 Bulls are seeking their second straight trip to the championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Williams broke Ariel Hearns' previous record of 27 points set two years ago with a show-stopping performance from the start. The John. R. Wooden Award finalist set another conference tournament record with 18 points in the first quarter.
“I actually was told by an uncle of mine, 'Once you get in that zone, you've got to stay in that zone because it's so vulnerable. Once you're in a zone like that, anything can take you out of it,'” Williams said. “I tried to just stay in the zone and keep shooting when I was open.”
USF was again shorthanded with American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year Kitija Laksa missing the game with an injury. Laura Ferreira played 14 minutes and sat out the second half after USF built a 39-23 lead by the break.
Playing 26 minutes, Ariadna Pujol gave the Bulls a big boost with a season-high 16 points, four rebounds and two steals.
“Kitija is not playing and Laura is not 100 percent, so I had to step up and do different things to help the team win,” Pujol said.
Williams outscored the whole SMU team in the first half, 24-23, while tying her previous career mark of four 3-pointers.
“Courtney had a special half offensively,” Fernandez said.
Williams scored USF's first 11 points and her 18 in the first quarter helped the Bulls open with a 23-15 lead. Williams' 24 first-half points are the most by any conference athlete this year. UConn's Breanna Stewart scored 25 points in the first half of a win over Temple last season.
USF ended up shooting 37 percent (27-for-72) and did a lot of damage inside with 38 points in the paint. Senior Alisia Jenkins scored six points and her game-high nine rebounds helped the Bulls finish with a 43-40 edge on the glass.
American Sixth Player of the Year Shalethia Stringfield and Nancy Warioba scored eight points apiece as USF's bench stepped up with 36 points.
USF's defense also came to play with 22 forced turnovers while SMU (13-18) went 2-for-10 from long range. The Bulls finished with a 30-8 advantage in points off turnovers to advance to The American semis for the third straight year.
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 –
