Bulls Upset Houston, Advance to Sixth Straight Semifinals
UNCASVILLE, Conn., MARCH 9, 2019– Behind a third-quarter surge, No. 5 USF upset No. 4 Houston 72-55 to advance to its sixth-straight American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal appearance.
The Bulls are slated to take on top-seeded UConn on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. on ESPN2 in the Mohegan Sun Arena.
USF, which earned a seed lower than four for the first time since the conference's inception, first defeated Tulane on Friday afternoon before storming over Houston in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon. USF's victory marked the first time since 2016 that a lower seed defeated a top-four seed to advance to the semifinals.
South Florida has appeared in the semifinals in every year of the AAC tournament, and has appeared in the championship game each year since 2015. USF improved to 11-5 all-time in the AAC Tournament and 18-14 on the year.
Against Houston, Freshman
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) led USF off the bench with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes. She was one of three scorers in double-figures, alongside sophomore guard
Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark) who scored 16 points on a 7-of-15 clip from the field. Freshman point guard
Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) stepped up for the second time in as many days for USF with a career high 13 points, four assists and three rebounds, including a perfect 8-for-8 outing at the free-throw line.
The first half looked nothing like the second half, with Houston leading after both the first and second quarters. Houston (15-15) started the first quarter with four quick points, but defensive stops powered three freshman to help USF score six straight points. Houston responded with a 7-0 run to lead 11-6, before Pehadzic closed the quarter with a big three-pointer to keep it a one-possession game, 11-9.
In the second quarter, the Bulls found themselves down seven points, USF rolled to an 8-0 run with all eight points coming from the free-throw line to shortly regain the lead. Houston closed the half with a pair of free throws to lead 34-31.
USF stormed out of the locker room and dominated the third quarter, outscoring Houston 21-6 for a 54-40 lead heading into the final period. The Bulls were powered by a 13-2 run, including huge three-pointers from Pehadzic and a 30-footer from Harvey.
The Bulls extended the lead to as high as 20 in the fourth quarter and the Bulls ran away with the victory to advance to the semifinals.
USF shot 49.0 percent from the field, and out-rebounded Houston 40-27. USF had 29 points off of the bench, including 20 from Harvey.
Quotable
Opening Statement from USF Head Coach Jose Fernandez
"At half-time my biggest concern was the points off of turnovers. We had ten turnovers in the first half and we were giving Houston too many possessions. Also, their three post players had 21 of their 34 points and I thought we did a really good job of defending their perimeters and that was the difference. In the third quarter, we go from turning it over ten times to turning it over three times. Our shots went in because defended and kept Houston in front of us. We did not give them second shots."
About getting back to the semi-finals
"That's what we expect to do. We expect to play for a championship. We expect to play on Monday night. Playing on the first day was a little difference for us. The first year of the league we get beat at the buzzer. That year we were the three or four seed. Us and Rutgers were on the bubble and we did not get into the tournament. Then the next four years in the league we played UCONN for the championship. Its just a different route to Monday night this time. We are on the other side of the bracket. We have never faced UCONN in the semi-final," said
Jose Fernandez.
Key Stats
13-2– Down at the half, USF used a 13-2 surge in the third quarter to establish a dominating lead over Houston
61.5– USF shot 61.5 percent from the field in the third quarter.
29 – USF had 29 points off the bench, including 20 from
Sydni Harvey.
Notables
- USF advanced to the AAC semifinals for the sixth straight season.
- USF's victory marked the first time since 2016 that the lower seed defeated a top-four seed to advance to the semifinals.
- 2019 is the first time since 2014 the championship game will not be between UConn and USF since UConn and USF will play each other in the semifinals.
- Despite having a record of 2-11 when trailing at the half, USF came back from a 34-33 deficit to defeat the Cougars.
- USF is attempting to extend its title game streak this weekend. The Bulls have advanced to the championship game of the AAC tournament every year since 2015.
- Prior to the tournament, Enna Pehadzic was named to the American Athletic Conference Second Team while Sydni Harvey was a unanimous selection to The American's All-Freshman Team. Learn more HERE.
- The Bulls now own a 11-5 record in the AAC tournament since its inception in 2013-14.
- Elisa Pinzan set a new career high in scoring with 13 points and has scored in double figures in both AAC tournament games.
- USF is without star Kitija Laksa (knee), Beatriz Jordao (leg) and Silvia Serrat (knee) for the season. The Bulls also have been without Laura Ferreira (heart condition) since January.
Up Next
Fifth-seeded USF will see top-seeded UConn in Sunday's first conference semifinal matchup that's set for 4 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Watch the game on ESPN2 and view the full schedule at the AAC's championship central page
HERE.
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.
