No. 17/17 Bulls Prepared for Power Opponents in Paradise
Matchup:No. 17/17 USF Bulls (4-0) vs. Kentucky (4-0)
Date: Thanksgiving Day, Thursday Nov. 22, 2018
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Matchup:No. 17/17 USF Bulls (4-0) vs. North Carolina (3-1)
Date: Friday Nov. 23, 2018
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Matchup:No. 17/17 USF Bulls (4-0) vs. RV UCLA (3-1)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Watch Live: FloHoops
Radio: Bulls Unlimited (Darek Sharp)
Live Stats: GoUSFBulls.com
Twitter Updates:@USFWBB
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands, Nov. 21, 2018 –No. 17 USF women's basketball is prepared to take on three power five opponents in three days in the 19
thannual Paradise Jam on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
USF will face Kentucky on Thanksgiving Day at 1 p.m. ET at the University of Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center. Kentucky will be the fifth straight undefeated opponent the Bulls will face, and the string of competitive opponents make up four straight Power Five opponents in six days for USF.
After Kentucky, USF will face North Carolina on Friday at 3 p.m. ET in the round-robin Paradise Jam. The Bulls will round out their slate in paradise with RV UCLA on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eight teams are featured in the Paradise Jam and are broken up into two divisions, the reef division and the island division. USF will compete in the island division, and the competitor with the best tournament record following the final game on Saturday will win their respective division, with two Paradise Jam winners. The reef division features St. John's, Ole Miss, Purdue and UConn, and USF will not see any of those teams.
USF is coming off of its best team-win on the young season, when the Bulls took down perennial NCAA powerhouse Oklahoma on Sunday 87-70, but the game was a hotly contested matchup, tied 50-50 in the third quarter. USF exploded on a 19-3 fourth quarter run, behind a 34-point night from senior wing
Laura Ferreira (Lisboa, Portugal). Ferreira's unbelievable night landed her on the NCAA Starting Five and tabbed her the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
The Bulls' big win came after experiencing adversity in the form of losing star-studded senior wing All-America candidate
Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) to a season-ending injury in last Thursday night's blasting of Bethune-Cookman, 88-39. USF showed its resiliency and mental toughness in the defeat of the Sooners, where USF stepped up not only offensively, but defensively, holding OU's leading scorer to just seven points on the night.
The Opponent
Kentucky Wildcats (4-0)
Kentucky is paced by Rhyne Howard, averaging 16.3 points per game, but feature three total scorers averaging double figures. Maci Morris and Taylor Murray are averaging 13.5 and 13.3 points respectively. KeKe McKinney leads the wildcats in rebounds, averaging 7.0 on the young season. While the Wildcats boast a perfect 4-0 record like the Bulls, they haven't been truly tested, easily besting three of their opponents by 20 points or more, and beating two of their opponents by 50 points or more. Their closest matchup was a 63-51 victory over Virginia, who USF will face later this season.
The Paradise Jam will be the first time Kentucky plays away from Lexington this season. Most recently, UK defeaed High Point 71-49 on Sunday, where three Wildcats scored in double figures on a team 44.1 percent shooting night.
USF is 0-2 against Kentucky all time, last falling against the Wildcats in the championship game of the Paradise Jam in 2014.
North Carolina Tar Heels (3-1)
North Carolina also has three scorers averaging in double figures, and are led by Janelle Bailey with 17.5 points per game. Paris Kea and Shayla Bennett each contribute 15.5 and 13.3 points per game, respectively. On the young season, UNC has scored anywhere from 74 to 100 points on the season, with their only loss coming at the hands of Pac-12 foe Colorado who took down the Tar Heels 86-74.
The Tar Heels have defeated Elon (100-69), Kent State (73-60) and VCU (59-47) before the loss to the Buffs. They will open the Paradise Jam against UCLA immediately after USF's game at 3 p.m. ET.
All time against UNC, the Bulls and the Tar Heels are tied 1-1. These two teams last met in the Caribbean at the 2016 Junkanoo Jam in Bimini Bahamas where
Kitija Laksa scored 34 points. Senior Paris Kea led UNC with 20 points, and the rematch will be no-more for Laksa. Kea could prove to be a handful for the Bulls, as she is named to four national award watch lists and has racked up nearly 1,200 points in her career as a point guard.
UCLA Bruins (3-1)
Three Bruins are averaging double-figures on the season and UCLA is led by Japreece Dean with 15.8 points per game. Michaela Onyenwere and Kennedy Burke are scoring 13 points per game apiece but Onyenwere is nearly averaging a double-double, with 9.8 rebounds per game through four games this season.
UCLA has been receiving votes since the preseason in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, and is the first team out of the poll in week three. UCLA opened with a loss to Loyola Marymount 69-63 before bouncing back to win its next three games, including a statement win over then-No. 14 Georgia. UCLA came back to defeat UGA 80-69 before taking down Seton Hall on Sunday with a 78-62 victory in Los Angeles.
It will be the Bruins' second trip away from home this season since they fell to LMU in the season opener.
All time against UCLA, USF trails 0-1, last seeing the Bruins in 2016 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, where the Bulls fell 72-67 to end the 2015-16 campaign.
Ferreira on Fire
Ferreira exploded offensively with a 34-point night to help USF take down Oklahoma. In Ferreira's career best performance she set new career highs in points (34), field goals made (13), field goals attempted (20), three-pointers made (8) and three-pointers attempted (13), she sank eight from beyond the arc on Sunday afternoon at the Yuengling Center, which ranks fourth all-time at USF.
Ferreira's offensive performance was just as incredible as her defensive performance, as she held OU's leading scorer Shaina Pellington to just seven points on the night and eventually her fouled out, frustrated by Ferreira's relentless counterattacks. Ferreria was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week and to the NCAA Starting Five for her career-best performance.
Notable
- This is USF's third all-time appearance in the Paradise Jam after attending in 2008 and 2014.
- USF has delivered the season's first losses to each of its opponents this season.
- The Bulls will round out a six-day period of facing four power-five teams: Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA.
- Laura Ferreira is the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week and was named to the NCAA Starting Five following her career performance.
Watch Live
The game will be available to stream on FloHoops for a subscription, and fans are invited to tune in on Bulls Unlimited to follow the call of
Darek Sharp from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
About USF Women's Basketball
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF women's basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (
Twitter |
Facebook |
Instagram).
USF notched its sixth consecutive 20-win season and fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017-18. It marked the ninth 20-win season in program history, with head coach Jose Fernandez at the helm for all nine. The Bulls posted 26 wins in 2017-18, just shy of the program record of 27 set in 2008-09 and 2014-15.
USF has made 14 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez's 18 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 –
