USF Ready for New Orleans Shootout
Matchup: No. 22 USF (9-2) vs. Dayton (6-3) | vs. Michigan State (8-3)
Date: Wednesday, Dec. 20 | Thursday, Dec. 21
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET | 8:30 p.m. ET
Location: New Orleans, La. | Convocation Center (Xavier at Louisiana)
Watch: N/A
Radio: AM 1040 | Bulls Unlimited (
Darek Sharp)
Follow: Listen | Twitter
TAMPA, DEC. 19, 2017 – The USF women's basketball team will end its four-game in seven-day road swing Wednesday and Thursday at the New Orleans Shootout. The Bulls will face Dayton and Michigan State.
The Bulls (9-2) are fresh off an 82-52 victory at FIU. USF has outscored its opponents by a margin of 45 points in its last two outings and look to extend its current win streak to three and four wins. The Bulls continue to be led by
Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) offensively but boast four players in double-figure scoring.
Alyssa Rader (Thornton, Colo.) is averaging 12 points and five rebounds per game since her debut against Southern Dec. 20.
Maria Jespersen leads the team with 9.9 rebounds per game and contributes 16.5 points per game.
THE OPPONENTS
USF looks for its first program wins against Dayton (6-3) and Michigan State (8-3).
The Bulls will battle Dayton for just the second time in program history. The Flyers defeated USF, 73-63, in the pairs only meeting in 2011. Michigan State owns a 2-0 record against the Bulls and defeated USF, 79-71, in 2006.
NOTABLES
- USF is 2-1 in neutral site games.
- Maria Jespersen moved to 10th on all-time rebounding list thanks to seven rebounds on Friday. Jespersen has tallied 671 rebounds in four years. The senior needs 58 more rebounds to move into the ninth spot.
- Laia Flores leads the league in three different categories: assist-turnover ratio (4.73), assists (71) and assists per game (6.5). She ranks in the top 16 nationally in all three categories.
- USF is currently ranked No. 22 in the AP and No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. The Bulls started the season ranked No. 23/22 and peaked at No. 16 (AP – week 4) and No. 16 (Coaches – weeks 3-4 ). USF has been ranked in both polls every week. The program's highest ranking in both polls was in 2016, when the Bulls were ranked No. 15 (AP – Jan. 18 | Coaches – Jan. 19).
- Former USF All-American Courtney Williams ('16) is among 13 Olympic and/or FIBA World Cup gold medalists, on a roster of 29 athletes today that were named to the 2017-20 USA Basketball Women's National Team pool.
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF women's basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (
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USF notched its fifth consecutive 20-win season. The Bulls tallied its 20th win in their 24th contest of the season which tied the fastest any program has reached 20 wins. This is the eighth 20-win season in program history and head coach Jose Fernandez has been at the helm for all eight 20-win seasons. The 2014-15 team reached 20 wins in 24 games, and still currently holds the best record for most wins in a season (27).
USF has made 13 postseason tournament appearances and had five NCAA Tournament berths in Head Coach Jose Fernandez's 17 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to eight 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 300 games.
– #GoBulls –
