No. 21/20 USF Falls to Notre Dame in Final Game of Cancun Challenge

Saturday, November 30

Cancun, Mexico

11 a.m. ET

University of South Florida

5-4,0-0AAC

Notre Dame

5-4,0-0ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
South Fla.	9	15	13	14	51
Notre Dame	13	12	24	18	67

No. 21/20 USF Falls to Notre Dame in Final Game of Cancun Challenge

November 30, 2019 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Game Details
Notre Dame 67, 21/20 USF 51
USF (5-4), Notre Dame (5-4)
Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019 | 11 a.m.
Cancun, Mexico | Hard Rock Riviera Maya Hotel Convention Center

CANCUN, Mexico (Nov. 30, 2019) – The No. 21/20 University of South Florida women's basketball team closed out its play in the 2019 Cancun Challenge on Saturday morning with a 67-51 loss to 2019 NCAA national runner-up Notre Dame.

Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece) led the Bulls with 12 points and Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.) added 11 points. Bethy Mununga (Zellik, Belgium) grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for her seventh double-figure rebounding performance in nine games with USF.

The Bulls withstood an 11-0 run by the Fighting Irish, in the first quarter, a run that gave Notre Dame its biggest lead of the game at that time, 13-5, with 1:30 left in the period. USF battled back in the second quarter to tie the game at 24-all, with 18 seconds left in the half, on a driving layup by Luize Septe (Ventspils, Latvia) for two of her six points. Notre Dame eventually took a 25-24 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Bulls seemed to be picking up momentum to start the third quarter, after the Fighting Irish pushed their halftime lead to six, 32-26. Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) hit a short jumper in the paint followed by an Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark) three-pointer, one of two on the day for her, cutting the Notre Dame lead to two, 33-31, with just over seven minutes left in the quarter. That was as close as the Bulls got the rest of the contest.

On the afternoon, the Bulls shot just 27.8 percent (20-for-72) from the field – a season low – and 19.5 percent (8-for-41) from behind the three-point arc. Their 41 three-point shots attempted is tied for the 11^th most in program history.

Score By Quarters
                              1             2             3             4             F
USF                      9             15           13           14           51
Notre Dame   13 12           24           18           67

Quotable
"We didn't shoot the ball particularly well in the first half, but the one constant is that we defended. In the second half we didn't do that. I also thought that Notre Dame was efficient in their offense. I think we built a separate wing in the Hard Rock Hotel today with the way we shot." – USF head coach Jose Fernandez on the Bulls' loss to Notre Dame.

Key Stats
8-41 – The Bulls weren't able to find their shooting touch on Saturday against Notre Dame, from behind the arc, making just eight treys on the afternoon.

Notable

Today's starters for the Bulls were: F Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.), F Bethy Mununga, W Kristyna Brabencova (Brno, Czech Republic), G Elena Tsineke, G Maria Alvarez (Miami, Fla.) … The Bulls are 0-1 with this lineup.
Bethy Mununga's 10 rebounds marked her seventh double-figure rebounding performance of her short USF career.
Shae Leverett had nine rebounds to go along with her 11 points, falling just one rebound shy of her second double-double of the year.
USF outrebounded Notre Dame, 46-38, including a 23-8 advantage on the offensive glass … Those 23 offensive rebounds led to 17 second chance points for the Bulls.

Up Next
The Bulls will return home for two-straight games against Alabama State on Dec. 6 (5:30 p.m.) and Idaho on Dec. 16 (1 p.m.).

Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com.

– #GoBulls –

About USF Women's Basketball
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USF notched its eighth consecutive 19-win season and eighth straight postseason appearance in 2018-19. The Bulls celebrated two all-conference honorees in Enna Pehadzic and Sydni Harvey.

USF has made 15 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez's 19 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 350 games.