By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
UNCASVILLE, Conn., MARCH 7, 2016 – No. 21 USF turns its attention to the NCAA tournament after making its second consecutive appearance in the American Athletic Conference Championship game on Monday night.
Second-seeded USF took a lead into the second quarter before falling to top-seeded UConn, 77-51, in the rematch of last season's title game at Mohegan Sun Arena.
UConn (32-0) won its third consecutive American Athletic Conference championship. The Huskies pulled away by shooting 66 percent in the second half with 40 total points in the paint. UConn scored 19 points off 18 USF turnovers.
“I thought they did a very, very good job tonight on both ends of the floor,” head coach Jose Fernandez said.
Senior Courtney Williams was named to the conference's all-tournament team after scoring a team-high 16 points for USF (23-9). Williams set The American's new conference tournament record with 67 total points in three games. Senior Shalethia Stringfield also made the all-tournament team after finishing with six points, a team-high six rebounds and five assists.
Laura Ferreira and Alisia Jenkins joined Williams in double figures with 12 points apiece. Ferreira made two of USF's seven 3-pointers and added five rebounds. Jenkins also made a pair of 3-pointers and finished with three steals and an assist.
USF took a lead into halftime in the regular season finale at UConn and the Bulls got off to another fast start Monday night.
Jenkins knocked down a 3-pointer in the first three minutes to help the Bulls jump out to a 5-0 lead. Jenkins had eight points by halftime and her four rebounds helped USF start with a 15-14 edge on the boards.
Kitija Laksa returned from an injury and hit USF's second 3-pointer to extend the lead to 14-9. The Bulls finished the first quarter with a 14-13 advantage.
Seeking its 69th consecutive win, UConn grabbed the momentum in the middle of the second quarter and never let it go.
UConn took its first lead with 6:48 remaining in the second quarter and ended up heading to halftime with a 36-24 advantage. Stringfield's layup cut USF's deficit to 22-19 with 6:05 remaining, but the Bulls didn't score again until Ferreira's 3-pointer stopped a 10-0 UConn run with 57 seconds left.
Held to two points in the first half, Williams got going after the break with 10 points in the third quarter. Williams has posted double-digit scoring figures in 30 games this season and was recently named to the John R. Wooden Award top-15 ballot.
UConn ended the third quarter with a 59-40 lead and got a game-high 22 points from Breanna Stewart. The unanimous conference player of the year selection went 10-for-16 from the field to help the Huskies shoot 58 percent overall.
“They're a very, very good basketball team, but I think we've got a very good basketball team ourselves,” Fernandez said. “There is nobody else in the country that's played them three times in a power conference. We're looking forward to where we're going to be seeded next Monday night.”
With at least 20 wins for the fourth straight season, USF now looks to make another memorable run in the NCAA tournament. The Bulls' postseason path will be revealed during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, March 14 at 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN).
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 –
