By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

UNCASVILLE, Conn., MARCH 5, 2018 – Second-seeded USF booked a trip to its fourth consecutive American Athletic Conference tournament championship game with a 74-59 victory over rival UCF on Monday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

No. 19 USF (26-6) is one victory away from matching the program season wins record after powering past third-seeded UCF (21-10) after the break. Head coach Jose Fernandez's Bulls led, 33-30, at halftime and held the Knights to 33 percent shooting the rest of the way.

USF shot nearly 54 percent from the field in the second half (50.9 percent overall) and finished with five players in double figures. Junior Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) led the way with a game-high 20 points and sank four of the Bulls' seven three-pointers.

Laura Ferreira (Lisboa, Portugal) continued her impressive tournament run with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Senior Maria Jespersen (Arhus, Denmark) added 12 points, seven assists and grabbed sole possession of fifth place on USF's career rebounds list with a game-high eight boards.

Sophomore Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) gave the Bulls a big lift by going 5-for-6 from the field with 11 points and five rebounds in 17 minutes of action. Alyssa Rader (Thornton, Colo.) provided more production in the post with 10 points and six rebounds.

Both teams shot 48 percent in the opening half, but USF took a 33-30 lead into the locker room after Laksa heated up before the break.

Seniors Jespersen and Laia Flores (Mataro, Spain) lifted the Bulls early by combining for 10 points as the War on I-4 rivals took a 16-16 tie into the second quarter. Flores finished with seven assists, six rebounds, four points and a game-high four steals.

USF opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run and eight quick points by Laksa helped the Bulls take a 29-20 lead past the midpoint of the period. Laksa posted all 10 of her first-half points in the second quarter to reach double figures for the 30^th time this season.

Fernandez's Bulls busted out the gates after the break and built a 42-30 lead with a three-pointer by Jespersen and two more from Laksa. USF took a 49-40 advantage into the final period after limiting UCF to just 10 points on 26 percent shooting in the third quarter.

USF closed the door on UCF's comeback chances by opening the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run and consecutive three-pointers by Ferreira helped pump the lead up to 61-44 with less than five minutes to play.

Quotable
Head coach Jose Fernandez on the Bulls breaking away from the Knights in the second half:
"That was the turning point, when we came out of the locker room and Maria hit a three and Kit (hit two). We talked to our guys, we needed to do a much better job with our post coverage inside in doubling Kaba and helping Laura out on Saunders earlier. We had five guys in double figures. I know four of them played 40 minutes, but this is something that we talk about all year long – having an opportunity to play for a conference championship. This is four years straight that we're doing that."

Fernandez on Laia Flores' ability to break the press and dish out assists while Laura Ferreira made big baskets in the fourth quarter:
"I thought she did a very good job finding people. She found people outside of the ball-side area. She looked away post players and found Kit up on the opposite end of the floor and found Laura in the corner. Laura's two big threes in the fourth were huge."

Kitija Laksa on facing rival UCF for the third time this season:
"It's always a tough fight with UCF. There's a lot of respect for them. It was a hard-fought fight and good luck to them for the rest of the season. We're moving onto the 'ship game."
 
Key Stats
50.9 – USF's shooting percentage from the field overall after shooting 53.8 percent in the second half.
36 – Post players helped USF produce 36 points in the paint.
20 – The Bulls shared the ball well with 20 assists on 28 made baskets.
10 – USF held UCF to just 10 points in the third quarter, which paved the way for a nine-point lead heading into the fourth.
 
Notable

• USF improved to 28-9 in its all-time series with rival UCF. The Bulls defeated the Knights in all three games this season.
• USF is one victory away from matching the program season record of 27 wins (2008-09, 2014-15).
• Maria Jespersen grabbed sole possession of fifth place on USF's career rebounds list. The senior forward now has 871 rebounds after totaling a game-high eight boards against UCF.
• Kitija Laksa is one three-pointer shy of the USF season record of 117 set by Janae Stokes in 2008-09. Laksa has knocked down nine three-pointers so far in the conference tournament.
• Laia Flores tied Maria Jespersen for the game high with seven assists, which added to Flores' season assist record that's up to 210. Flores has dished out 512 assists for the Bulls, good for second on the program's career chart.
• USF's defense has held opponents to 11 points or less in five of eight quarters in the conference tournament. ECU scored 11 points in each quarter during the quarterfinals and UCF managed only 10 points in the third quarter on Monday.

 Up Next
USF will face the winner of the UConn-Cincinnati semifinal in the tournament championship game Tuesday at 5 p.m. (TV: ESPN2).
 
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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.