By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
UNCASVILLE, Conn., MARCH 6, 2017 – Laia Flores became USF's new single-season assists leader in the Bulls' third consecutive American championship title game appearance Monday night.
Flores dished out four assists in the Bulls' 100-44 loss to top-ranked UConn, which marked the third straight year the programs have met in the championship. The junior from Mataro, Spain, will begin the NCAA tournament with 192 assists this season after passing Anedra Gilmore's previous top mark of 190 in 2004-05.
Playing in its third game in three days, USF (24-8) got a big boost from Dorottya Nagy, who scored a career-high 15 points and went 7-for-15 from the field. The freshman forward from Pecs, Hungary scored 11 points in the second half and logged in a career-high 27 minutes.
Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) also finished in double figures with 13 points and made the all-tournament team by averaging 16 points in three games. USF's sharp-shooter finished the tournament with eight 3-pointers a day after breaking the Bulls' sophomore season scoring record.
Maria Jespersen (Arhus, Denmark) also was named to the all-tournament team after finishing the championship game with five points and seven rebounds.
UConn (32-0) shot 62 percent in its fourth American tournament championship victory. Head coach Geno Auriemma's Huskies extended their NCAA record winning streak to 107 games and secured the program's 22nd conference tournament title.
Flores moved past Anedra Gilmore on USF's season assists list with three in the first half. Gilmore previously held the record with 190 assists during the 2004-05 season.
UConn built a 62-23 halftime lead by shooting 70.6 percent from the field and going 10-for-14 from long range. Laksa led the Bulls with nine points at the half after sinking three 3-pointers.
Quotables
Head coach Jose Fernandez on a younger Bulls team making the conference championship game, the program's third straight trip:
“The first time we played Connecticut up there, a lot of (players) on our team had never experienced that. I told our team, 'Let's not let this game take away the season that this team has had.' We replaced four starters off a very good basketball team last year. We're in the NCAA tournament. We're still going to be playing and a lot of team are not. We're looking forward to that, but we have to put this game in the rear-view mirror.”
Maria Jespersen on how getting to the championship can help the team moving forward:
“Our team is young and I think a lot of people doubted us. We showed everybody that we're better than probably a lot of people thought we would be. Our goal is always to play in the NCAA tournament and win a conference title. You have to give a lot of credit to UConn, they're really good.”
Key Stats
16 – The number of 3-pointer made by UConn, which shot nearly 60 percent from long range.
23 – The number of turnovers committed by the Bulls. UConn scored 30 points off turnovers.
40 – UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson set The American's tournament scoring record with a career-high 40 points.
Notables
- Maria Jespersen and Kitija Laksa were both named to The American's all-tournament team after becoming all-conference first team selections last week.
- USF appeared in the finals of the American Athletic Conference Championship for the third consecutive season.
- USF (24-8) will head to the NCAA tournament three wins shy of the program season record of 27 set in 2014-15.
- UConn has never been beaten by a conference opponent through four seasons (82 games) in The American.
Up Next
USF will find out its postseason path during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, March 13 at 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN).
USF is poised to make its fourth trip to the NCAA tournament in the past five seasons and the program's fifth overall appearance.
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF women's' basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
USF has 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 12 postseason tournament appearances and had four NCAA Tournament berths in Head Coach Jose Fernandez's 16 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to nine 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 300 games.
– #GoBulls –
