USF to Host UCF in White Out for War on I-4
Matchup:USF Bulls (10-5) vs. UCF Knights (12-2)
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019
Time:7p.m. ET
Location: Yuengling Center, Tampa, Fla.
Broadcast:ESPN3 (Despina Barton & Leah Secondo)
Radio: AM 1040, (
Darek Sharp & Brigid Merenda)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Twitter Updates:@USFWBB
TAMPA, Fla. Jan. 7, 2019 – USF women's basketball will host UCF on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Yuengling Center, the conference opener game is also the next installment in the War on I-4 and fans are encouraged to wear white.
USF (10-5, 1-0) owns a perfect 7-0 record at home in the Yuengling Center this season and took away its first conference victory on the road against Temple. The 63-53 contest at Temple marked the fifth straight conference opener USF has earned a win.
Laura Ferreira (Lisboa, Portugal), leads USF with 15.8 points per game this season and
Alyssa Rader (Thornton, Colo.) leads the Bulls on the boards with 7.8 per contest. USF is without
Beatriz Jordao (Pombal, Portugal) who will forego the rest of the 2018-19 season due to injury. But USF announced last week 5-foot-11 freshman wing
Luize Septe (Ventspils, Latvia) will join the Bulls in a mid-year roster addition.
White Out at the Yuengling Center
Fans are encouraged to wear white in Tuesday night's white out, and the first 1,500 fans at the Yuengling Center will receive free white "Horns Up" t-shirts.
Honor Rolled Bulls
Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.) and
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) were named to the American Honor Roll after leading the Bulls over Temple. Leverett posted a near triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks while Harvey had a game-high 19 points.
Harvey's Hot from the Charity Stripe
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) is hitting 90 percent of her shots from the free-throw line, a conference leading statistic. She has made 54-of-60 free throws in 15 games this season.
Boards for the Bulls
Rebounding has been the secret weapon for the Bulls, who are out-performing opponents on the boards by 12.7 per game, good enough for seventh nationally. USF out-rebounded Temple 57-40 in Saturday's gritty road win.
The Opponent
UCF Knights
UCF is off to its best start in program history, owning a 12-2 record and a 1-0 in conference play. UCF's losses were delivered by Central Michigan (75-68) on Nov. 21 and then No. 15 Syracuse (57-52). UCF opened conference play on the road at Memphis and defeated the Tigers 68-55.
The Knights are led by Kay Kay Wright, who is averaging 18.9 points per game. Nyala Shuler is pacing UCF on the boards with 7.4 per game. Eleven Knights have seen action in 14 games and Wright is the only Knight averaging double figures. Kayla Thigpen comes close, with 9.0 points per contest. They are receiving votes in the national polls.
Notable
- Rebounding is a key for USF, who is out-performing opponents on the boards by 12.7, a good enough margin for seventh nationally.
- Shae Leverett and Sydni Harvey were named to the American Honor Roll.
- Luize Septe joined the roster on Dec. 30, 2018, a 5-foot-11 freshma wing from Ventspils, Latvia.
- USF sunk a season-high 12 three-pointers and scored a season-high 102 points against Vermont. USF is the first AAC team to reach the century mark this season.
- Laura Ferreira is USF's leading scorer this season with 15.8 points per game, boosted by her 34-point game over Oklahoma, which leads The American for a single-game point total by an individual.
- USF posted a perfect nonconference record of 7-0 at home in the Yuengling Center, and took down three opponents who advanced to the NCAA tournament last year
War on I-4 Rivalry
The War on I-4 represents a long-standing and passionate rivalry between the fan bases of two of the nation's largest and fastest growing universities. The Orlando and Tampa Bay metropolitan areas, which form the fourth-largest media market in the nation, are connected by 100 short miles of Interstate 4 (I-4).
The official recognition of the rivalry and the traditional name, first established by the fans, creates an annual series of scored competitions across multiple sports programs. The War On I-4 rivalry series officially began Sept. 21, 2016 with a competition between the two schools' volleyball programs.
For more information on the War on I-4 Rivalry, visit https://www.war-on-i4.com.
Follow the Action
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Despina Barton on the call and Leah Secondo adding color. Fans can follow the action with live radio on AM 1040 with
Darek Sharp and Brigid Merenda on the call. Live stats will be available on StatBroadcast and on GoUSFBulls.com
Up Next
USF will travel to Storrs, Conn. to take on No. 1 UConn in a Sunday matinee at 1 p.m. ET.
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 –
