CINCINNATI, MARCH 2, 2019 – In its final road contest of the regular season, USF fell to Cincinnati 43-57, snapping its four-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon in the Fifth Third Arena. 
 
USF (16-13, 7-8 AAC) will quickly forget the defeat and return home to host No. 2 UConn in Senior Night on Monday evening at 7 p.m. in the Yuengling Center. Seniors Kitija Laksa and Laura Ferreira will be honored. 
 
Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark) led USF in scoring with 15 points, while Tamara Henshaw (West Palm, Fla.) led on the boards with 13. Notably, Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.) had nine points and seven rebounds.
 
The Bulls had a slow start against Cincinnati (19-9, 11-4 AAC), falling behind 6-0 in the first five minutes. Freshman point guard Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) put the Bulls in the game with back-to-back three-pointers, tying the contest at 6-6. The treys made up the bulk of an 8-1 run for USF. The Bulls led 13-10 with one minute to go in the first quarter, but a four-point spurt including a three-pointer for Cincinnati gave the Bearcats a 14-13 lead to close the first quarter. 
 
Pehadzic tied the game midway through the second quarter with a pair of free throws at 18-18, but the Bearcats went on a 11-0 run to close the half. Cincinnati outscored USF in the second quarter 17-8, and the Bulls found themselves down 21-31 at halftime. 


In the third quarter, Cincinnati led by as much as 16, but USF cut the deficit to as little as eight before Cincinnati went on an 8-0 spurt and pulled away from the Bulls. In the final quarter, USF had a 6-0 run to get within single-digits and held Cincinnati scoreless for more than five minutes. But another 6-0 Cincinnati run sealed the defeat and ultimately the Bulls fell 43-57. 
 
The Bulls went to the line 26 times and hit 19 from the charity stripe, a critical factor in USF's ability to compete. USF outperformed Cincinnati on the boards 39-36, but UC outshot USF by nearly twice as much. 

Key Stats 
19– USF made 19 of its points from the free low line, where USF visited 26 times. 
15 to 6– Cincinnati outscored USF in nearly every specialty category, except second chance points where the Bulls scored 15 points off of second chances and Cincinnatti had six. 

Notables
 

• USF made 19-of-26 free throws and Shae Leverett made the most with 7-of-8 makes. 
• USF outrebounded Cincinnati 39-36. 
• Cincinnati has only lost twice in Fifth Third Arena and today's game served as its final home contest of the season and Senior Day. 
• The Bulls will finish no higher than fifth place in the American Athletic Conference, the regular season standings and conference bracket will be decided in the season finale Monday night. 
• USF will return home to host No. 2 UConn on Monday night in the Yuengling Center in its final home game of the season. 

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 Fernandezat 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–