Bulls To Take on Tulsa in Autism Awareness Game
Matchup:USF Bulls (12-12, 3-7 AAC) vs. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (11-12, 5-5 AAC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 16 2019
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: Tampa, Fla., Yuengling Center
Broadcast: ESPN3 (Despina Barton & Leah Secondo)
Radio: AM 1040&
Bulls Unlimited(
Darek Sharp & Brigid Merenda)
Live Stats: GoUSFBulls.com
Twitter Updates: @USFWBB
TAMPA, Fla. Feb. 14, 2019 – USF women's basketball will host Tulsa in a Saturday matinee at the Yuengling Center at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and will support Autism Awareness.
The game is a part of a doubleheader with USF men's basketball, which will tipoff against Temple at 6 p.m.
Autism Awareness
USF will support Autism Awareness during Saturday's games. Fans will notice lapel pins in the shape pf puzzle pieces sporting the light blue color to support Autism Awareness.
Dog Adoption Day
USF will also have five puppies available for adoption at Gate A as early as 11:30 a.m. Come and find your new member of your Bulls family.
Play4Kay National Free Throw Challenge
USF is participating in the Play4Kay National Free Throw Challenge, where fans have the opportunity to pledge per free throw made by USF during the month of February. Help USF get to the top of the leaderboard by visiting KayYow.com and donating to USF's team page.
Last Time Out
USF (12-12, 3-7 AAC) is coming off a 52-54 setback against Houston in the Yuengling Center last weekend.
Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark) led all scorers with 21 points including a crucial three-pointer with 18 seconds left in a near-comeback for USF women's basketball in the close loss.USF beat out Houston on the boards, outrebounding the Cougars by 11, 45-34.
Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) had a game-high nine rebounds with nine, while
Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.) pulled down eight.
Freshman
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) leads USF in scoring with 12.3 points per game, with Pehadzic right behind with 10.2 points per game. Pehadzic burst into double-digit scoring after her 21-point outing against Houston. In conference play, she leads the Bulls with 13.8 points per game. Leverett leads USF on the boards with 7.5 per game.
Battered Bulls
South Florida has been limited to just nine healthy players and as few as eight, with five Bulls carrying the bulk of the minutes. Adversity struck the Bulls this season, who were without five players and are now without four players, since
Alyssa Rader returned to the lineup, 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) has missed action due to illness.
Boards for the Bulls
Rebounding has been a weapon for the Bulls, who are out-performing opponents on the boards by 11.2 per game, good enough for fourth nationally. USF ranks fifth nationally in total rebounds this season and 10th nationally in rebounds per game.
The Opponent
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tulsa (11-12, 5-5 AAC) is on a two-game winning streak, last defeating Tulane 72-67 on Sunday afternoon. Three players from Tulsa finished in double-figure scoring, including Crystal Polk who had a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Tulsa sits in fifth in the conference standings with a .500 record in conference play. Polk leads Tulane with 13.2 points per game and on the boards with 7.6 rebounds per game.
Notable
- USF pulled out a crucial win at Tulane on Wednesday night and completed its first season sweep of the year.
- Enna Pehadzic jumped into double figure scoring averages this week, putting up 10.2 points per game after her 21-point performance against Houston.
- Four of USF's outcomes have been decided by one possession.
- Rebounding is a key for USF, who is out-performing opponents on the boards by 11.2, a good enough margin for fourth nationally and conference-leading statistic.
- Sydni Harvey leads the conference in free-throw percentage with 87.3 percent efficiency.
Follow the Action
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 with Despina Barton and Leah Secondo analyzing the action. Fans can follow the action with live radio on AM 1040 and on BullsUnlimited with
Darek Sharp and Brigid Merenda on the call. Live stats will be available on GoUSFBulls.com.
Up Next
USF will hit the road on Feb. 20 for a matchup with East Carolina at 7 p.m. in Greenville, N.C.
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 –
