Bulls Set for Mid-Week Matchup with Memphis
Matchup:USF Bulls (11-7, 2-2 AAC) vs. Memphis Tigers (7-10, 2-2 AAC)
Date:Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019
Time:7p.m. ET
Location: Tampa, Fla., Yuengling Center
Broadcast:BullsVision (
Jim Louk & Tyler McConnell)
Radio: AM 1040&
Bulls Unlimitedafter 8 p.m., (
Darek Sharp & Brigid Merenda)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Twitter Updates:@USFWBB
TAMPA, Fla. Jan. 22, 2019 – USF women's basketball will host Memphis on Wednesday evening in a midweek American Athletic Conference matchup at 7 p.m. in the Yuengling Center.
USF (11-7, 2-2 AAC) is coming off of stunning 73-46 win over Tulane on Saturday. Freshman
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) went off for 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, a career high for the point guard. Harvey was named the American Freshman of the Week for her stellar performance. Harvey was joined by
Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmrk) in the career-high night, when Pehadzic also had a personal best 21 points in the dominanting effort of the Green Wave. Pehadzic was named to the American Honor Roll for her outing, which included a career-high five three-pointers made, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Adversity struck the Bulls this season, who are without five players for Saturday's game, including three Bulls out for the season.
Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia), USF's returning leading scorer for the 2018-19 campaign and player of the year candidate, suffered a season-ending injury on Nov. 15.
Beatriz Jordao (Pombal, Portugal), after a promising start, will forego the remainder of her freshman campaign when a nagging injury won out to end 2018. Freshman
Silvia Serrat (Banyoles, Spain) is sidelined with a ACL/meniscus tear suffered in the offseason. Senior
Laura Ferreira (Lisboa, Portugal) will miss the action due to illness and junior
Alyssa Rader (Thornton, Colo.) is out with a concussion.
The Bulls look to freshman Harvey and Pehadzic to carry a bulk of the scoring while USF is limited to eight remaining active players.
Harvey's Hot from the Charity Stripe
Sydni Harvey is hitting 90.8 percent of her shots from the free-throw line, a conference leading statistic. She is the only American Athletic Conference player to shoot above 90 percent this season.
Harvey Named Freshman of the Week
Sydni Harvey was named the American Freshman of the Week after her career-high night over Tulane. The freshman earned 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and three free throws. The point total led all scorers and set a career high for the freshman. Harvey also sunk 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, tying her career high for three pointers made. She also added a team-high four assists, and went a perfect 3-for-3 from the foul line. On the season, Harvey is the only player in The American shooting above 90 percent from the charity stripe at 90.8 for the season.
Boards for the Bulls
Rebounding has been the secret weapon for the Bulls, who are out-performing opponents on the boards by 12.4 per game, good enough for sixth nationally. USF out-rebounded Tulane by 11 in Saturday's victory.
The Opponent
Memphis Tigers
Memphis comes into the matchup with a 7-10 overall clip and a 2-2 record in American Athletic Conference play. They are coming off of a 58-46 victory over ECU on Saturday. The Tigers are on a two-game winning streak after opening conference play 0-2, feeling losses at the hands of UCF and Tulsa.
This will be the 26
thmeeting between the two programs all-time, and Memphis leads the series with a 14-11 mark. USF has won three of the last five outings however. Memphis is led by Jamirah Shutes with 13.7 points per game, and Alana Davis on the boards with 8.5 per contest. Davis also adds 12.5 points per game.
Notable
- Sydni Harvey was named the American Freshman of the Week and Enna Pehadzic was named to the American Honor Roll for their career-high combination over Tulane on Saturday.
- USF defeated Tulane by 27, The highest margin in a conference game for USF this year, and the largest winning margin for USF since it defeated Vermont on Dec. 17, 2018.
- Rebounding is a key for USF, who is out-performing opponents on the boards by 12.4, a good enough margin for sixth nationally and conference-leading statistic.
- Sydni Harvey leads the conference in free-throw percentage with 90.3 percent and is the only AAC player to shoot over 90 percent this season.
- The Bulls are without Silvia Serrat, Kitija Laksa, Beatriz Jordao, Laura Ferreira and Alyssa Rader in the contest against Tulane. The inactive Bulls average over 50 points this season.
- USF is outscoring opponents at the Yuengling Center by 28.6 points on an 8-1 clip.
Follow the Action
The game will be broadcast live on BullsVision on GoUSFBulls.com on a free live stream with
Jim Louk and Tyler McConnell analyzing the action. Fans can follow the action with live radio on AM 1040 with
Darek Sharp and Brigid Merenda on the call. The game will be available on Bulls Unlimited after 8 p.m. Live stats will be available on StatBroadcast and on GoUSFBulls.com
Up Next
USF will hit the road to take on SMU on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Dallas.
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 –
