By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

STORRS, Conn., FEB. 26, 2018 – No. 20 USF's nine-game winning streak was snapped in the regular season finale with an 82-53 loss at top-ranked UConn on Monday night.

Despite the loss, USF (24-6, 13-3) has already secured the second seed for the American Athletic Conference Championship that takes place later this week. 

Head coach Jose Fernandez's Bulls put together a second-half performance they can build on in the postseason after limiting UConn (29-0, 16-0) to 35.5 percent shooting from the field after the break.

USF's offense also picked up the pace after the break with Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) scoring 12 of her team-high 14 points in the second half. Senior Maria Jespersen (Arhus, Denmark) scored half of her 12 total points in the third quarter and finished with a team-high seven rebounds.

Sophomore forward Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) gave the Bulls an early lead and posted her fifth double-digit scoring game of the season with 12 points after going 6-for-8 from the field.

Facing their fourth top-15 opponent of the season, the focused Bulls looked locked in early, taking the lead twice in the first five minutes. Henshaw's jumper put USF ahead, 4-3, and the Bulls were in a two-point game before UConn heated up down the stretch.

The Huskies used a late 19-4 run to take a 29-12 lead into the second quarter after scoring 14 points off eight USF turnovers in the first 10 minutes. UConn shot 70 percent from the field on the way to a 50-26 halftime lead.

USF's offensive responded after the break by shooting 40 percent during a 17-point third quarter that saw two of its stars jump into double figures. Jespersen doubled up her six first-half points while Laksa knocked down a pair of three in her eight-point quarter.

Henshaw became the Bulls' third double-digit scorer with four points that fueled USF's 6-0 run to close the game.

Quotable
Head coach Jose Fernandez's thoughts on USF's performance against top-ranked UConn:
"The last four minutes of the first quarter, that's what hurt us and points off of turnovers. I think we battled a lot better tonight. But what hurt us coming out of those media timeouts the first, second and third quarters, they went on those little runs. In the second, third and fourth quarter, we played a lot better."

Fernandez on turning the page to the conference tournament:
"We've got to continue to work and get ready to go to Mohegan and play a lot better. Hopefully we'll get an opportunity to play these guys again."

Key Stats
29 – UConn scored 29 points off 19 USF turnovers.
36 – The Huskies outscored the Bulls, 36-22, in points in the paint.

Notable

• USF (24-6) remains three victories away from the program's season record of 27 wins (2008-09, 2014-15).
• The senior duo of Maria Jespersen and Laia Flores are one win away from 100 career victories after becoming the most successful class in USF history in the regular season home finale.
• Kitija Laksa is 10 three-pointers away from the USF season record of 117 made by Janae Stokes in 2008-09.
• Laia Flores is four assists away from 500 in her career after posting a game-high four assists against the Huskies.
• Maria Jespersen is five rebounds away from a tying Jessica Lawson for fifth place on USF's career chart. Lawson grabbed 863 rebounds for the Bulls from 2007-10.

Up Next
Second-seeded USF begins its American Athletic Conference run in the quarterfinals 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. View the complete tournament and TV schedule HERE.
 
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USF notched its sixth consecutive 20-win season in an 84-65 romp of No. 13 Ohio State. This is the ninth 20-win season in program history and head coach Jose Fernandez has been at the helm for all nine 20-win seasons. The 2014-15 team holds the 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.