Women's Basketball Signs Five-Star Luize Septe
Septe rated a five-star prospect by Passion Hoops and Blue Star Europe, played for Latvian national team
TAMPA, MAY 10, 2018 – USF women's basketball head coach
Jose Fernandez announced the addition of another five-star recruit to the Bulls' 2018 signing class with the signing of 5-11 wing Luize Septe.
A native of Ventspils, Latvia, Septe has extensive experience playing in international competition and was tabbed a five-star prospect by both Passion Hoops and Blue Star Europe. She played for the under-18 Latvian national team in the 2017 European Championship, where she averaged eight points, five rebounds, and two assists per game. Septe also played for the under-19 Latvian team at the World Cup last summer. Additionally, Septe was selected as one of 20 players to try out for the Latvia senior national team, which is the same team that current USF standout
Kitija Laksa helped to qualify for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in September.
"Luize brings a tremendous skill set and great international experience and we are very excited to welcome her to USF," Fernandez said. "She comes out of the same club team as
Kitija Laksa and has shown the ability to play at a high level while competing with the Latvian national teams. She will be a great fit in our program."
While in Latvia, Septe also started at wing for the club team TTT Riga, which is the same club Laksa played for before coming to Tampa. With TTT Riga, Septe averaged 10.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and two assists per game while shooting 41.8 percent from the floor and adding 1.8 steals per game. The team recently earned a bronze medal in its league.
Septe is the newest member of the Bulls' 2018 signing class that now numbers five. She joins other late period signees in 5-10 combo guard
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.), 5-11 shooting guard
Makaela Kestner (Bealton, Va.), 5-8 point guard
Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) as well as 6-foot wing
Iris Tsafara (Athens, Greece), who signed in the early period.
Pinzan was also rated a five-star recruit by both Blue Star Europe and Passion Hoops and has international experience, playing for team Italy in the under-18 European Championships and the under-19 World Cup. She averaged eight points, two assists, 2.9 rebounds and two steals per game in the European Championships.
Harvey is rated as the No. 28 player at her position in the nation according to ESPN and is the all-time leading scorer in her high school's history.
Kestner holds the Faquier County (Va.) scoring record for boys or girls, scoring more than 1,500 points in her high school career.
Tsafara played for the under-18 Ikaros Kallitheas club team in Greece, where she led her team to a second-place finish in the National A2 Division.
About USF Women's Basketball
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About USF Women's Basketball
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.
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