Bulls Look for Fifth Straight Win in Final Road Game at Cincinnati
Matchup:USF Bulls (16-12, 7-7 AAC) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (18-9, 10-4 AAC)
Date: Saturday March 2, 2019
Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: Cincinnati, Fifth Third Arena
Radio: AM 1040&
Bulls Unlimited (
Darek Sharp)
Watch:BearcatsTV
Live Stats: GoBearcats.com
Twitter Updates:@USFWBB
TAMPA, Fla., March 1, 2019 – In the hunt for its fifth straight win, USF women's basketball will travel to Cincinnati for its final road game of the season on Saturday, March 1 at 12 p.m.
USF (16
-12, 7-7 AAC) is on a four-game winning streak, last defeating Houston 59-49 on the road earlier this week. USF also defeated Wichita State and ECU last week. The contest at Cincinnati is the Bulls' last regular season road game before coming home to host UConn on Monday, March 4 for senior night.
The Bulls have defied odds this season, not only with the number of injuries to the roster, but with the resiliency despite those injuries. Sophomore
Enna Pehadzic leads USF in scoring in conference play with 15.4 points per game. Freshman
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) leads USF in scoring with 11.8 points per game, but missed the three of the last four contests due to concussion protocol. Pehadzic is right behind with 11.5 points per game. Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) and
Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.) each lead USF on the boards with 7.9 per game and are a pair of USF's deadliest defenders.
Pow6rful Minds
The Conference's second Mental Health Awareness Week of the 2018-19 school year will take place Feb. 25-March 3 with The American men's and women's basketball games highlighting the week-long initiative.
Approximately 1 in 5 Americans experience mental illness in any given year. Thus, on the average basketball team, 3-4 players will be affected by mental health issues in some way, shape or form. It also means that over 92,000 athletes supported by the NCAA will have encountered mental health issues at one point during their career.
Green, the color of mental health awareness nationally, has been seen by The American's fans during designated athletic contests throughout the school year and the Conference's #Pow6rfulMinds hashtag has been used prominently on all of its social media accounts. During all men's and women's basketball contests next week, The American coaching staffs will wear specially designed green ribbon pins. The Conference also has produced PSAs featuring men's and women's basketball student-athletes that will be run in-venue during games.
Pehadzic Earns Fourth Honor Roll
Pehadzic scored a career-high 35 points in USF's victory at ECU, including 16 fourth-quarter points to seal the win, earning her a spot on The American Weekly Honor Roll. The 35 points is the highest by any American Athletic Conference player this season in a single game, outscoring fellow teammate
Laura Ferreira who scored 34 in November. Prior to December, Pehadzic had never scored in double figures and has since done so 16 times. From sleeper to darling, Pehadzic has stepped up to help USF in its time of need, with up to six Bulls missing games throughout the season due to injury in 2018-19.
Fernandez Wins 350
Head Coach
Jose Fernandez won his 350
thgame last Saturday night against Wichita State in the Yuengling Center. Fernandez owns a 351-255 all-time coaching record, all coming at USF over 19 seasons.
Battered Bulls
South Florida has been limited to just nine healthy players and as few as eight recently, with five Bulls carrying the bulk of the minutes. Adversity struck the Bulls this season, who have been without six players at various points of the season, including three Bulls out for the season. Harvey was the lone Bull to play and start in all contests before she missed the last two contests due to concussion protocol.
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 miss the rest 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.
Alyssa Rader missed five games due to concussion protocol before returning to the lineup and Harvey has missed three of the last four games also for concussion protocol.
Boards for the Bulls
Rebounding has been a weapon for the Bulls, who are out-performing opponents on the boards by 10.6 per game, good enough for fifth nationally. USF ranks seventh nationally in total rebounds (1,231) this season and ninth nationally in rebounds per game (43.9).
The Opponent
Cincinnati Bearcats
Ilmar'I Thomas leads the Bearcats in scoring with 13.1 points per game, with Antoinette Miller right behind with 12.8 points per game. Thomas also leads the Bearcats in rebounding with 7.0 per game. The Bearcats can be a handful in Cincinnati however, boasting a 13-2 record at home this season. The Bulls and the Bearcats battled out in Tampa earlier this season where the Bulls fell just 57-56 to the Bearcats. But January's lessons have been February's wins for USF, who has learned how to pull out fourth-quarter victories in the last four games.
In the all-time series against UC, USF owns a 18-15 clip, including a 7-6 mark in Cincinnati. Cincinnati sits in third place uncontested in the conference standings, while the Bulls are fighting for the fourth-place position with Houston.
Notable
Follow the Action
Fans can follow the action on BearcatsTV. Live radio will be on AM 1040 and on BullsUnlimited with
Darek Sharp on the call. Live stats will be available on GoBearcats.com
Up Next
The Bulls will conclude the regular season with a home game against No. 2 UConnon Monday, March 4. Action at the YuenglingCenter begins at 7 p.m. and fans can reserve their seats at
USFBullsTix.com.
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 –
