By Joey Johnston
Special to USF Athletics

SAN ANTONIO, MARCH 23, 2021 – Sweet season. Sour finish.

USF's history-making journey came to a frustrating conclusion Tuesday when the No. 8-seeded Bulls fell against No. 1-seeded N.C. State 79-67 in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament's second round at San Antonio's Alamodome.

The Bulls (19-4), champions of the American Athletic Conference, fell short of the first Sweet 16 appearance in program history, capping a season filled with exhilarating victories and weathering a 31-day shutdown due to COVID-19.

"A lot of people look at it that way that we had a great season, but we didn't want to end this way,'' said an emotional USF coach Jose Fernandez. "Everybody in that locker room is hurting right now with the amount of time, blood, sweat and tears they've invested all season long. Everyone needs some time off.''

The Bulls were hampered by early foul trouble to post players Shae Leverett and Bethy Mununga, who eventually fouled out and didn't play in the second quarter. Despite that, the Bulls went to their bench and played an excellent second quarter, taking a 36-35 advantage into halftime.

Then USF's progress halted dramatically.

The Wolfpack (22-2), who earned their third consecutive Sweet 16 trip, surged ahead. The Bulls hung around and closed to within 47-45 on Elena Tsineke's jumper. But N.C. State went on a 12-0 run, building a cushion that lasted until the final buzzer.

Mununga fouled out with 3:02 left in the third quarter and Leverett fouled out in the final moments. But the Bulls kept battling, cutting it to 68-60 in the fourth quarter. That's where it stopped, though.

"We're not here in the NCAA Tournament's second round — 20 minutes away from the Sweet 16 — without Shae and Bethy,'' Fernandez said. "The foul trouble really, really hurt us. We needed the bench to play extended minutes and they did a good job.

"That third quarter … the things we always did if the ball wasn't going in the basket was defending and rebounding. N.C. State did a good job on the glass. I was disappointed on the defensive end. We fouled too much and that hurt us.''
 
The Bulls were led by their backcourt. Tsineke had a game-high 22 points with four made 3-pointers, while junior point guard Elisa Pinzan added 18 points, six assists and four rebounds. Junior guard Sydni Harvey contributed 10 points and six rebounds.

USF had 15 bench points and got notable performances from sophomore guard Maria Alvarez (eight points), junior Beatriz Jordao (three points), junior Tereza Vitulova (two points) and sophomore Cristina Bermejo (two points).

"I'm just proud of all the teammates,'' Pinzan said. "Even if they were playing 40 minutes, zero minutes or two minutes, they all contributed in some way. There weren't a lot of people talking about our bench. The starting five has done as much as possible.
 
"But when Shae and Bethy got into foul trouble, everybody contributed in their way. I'm proud of all of them.''
 
Without Leverett and Mununga, the Bulls found their rhythm and played neck-and-neck with N.C. State during the second quarter. In the first half alone, the Bulls were 6-for-14 from 3-point range.

"That's who we are,'' Pinzan said. "We got the stops we needed. We ran in transition and found the right guys for the open shot.

"In the last two quarters, it got a little bit away. The problem was more defense. We didn't get as many stops as we did in the first two quarters.''

And that was that.

The Wolfpack had five players in double figures, led by Jake Brown-Turner (19 points) and Jada Boyd (18). Meanwhile, 6-foot-5 All-American center Elissa Cunane, who was limited to three first-half points on 1-for-7 shooting, finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Despite limited minutes, Mununga led USF with nine rebounds and Leverett had six boards.

Overall, N.C. State shot 23-for-29 from the free-throw line, while USF was 12-for-18.

"Every year, there are only two teams that finish with a win — the NCAA champion and the NIT champion,'' Fernandez said. "For the first 20 minutes, we did some very, very good things. We knew they were going to make a run. They're a really, really good basketball team.

"I don't think you should base our entire season and the success of our program on a 12-point loss to a No. 1 seed. It's a basketball game at the end of the day. It has been a tough season for student-athletes all over the country. There are going to be a lot tougher things these student-athletes are going to deal with in their lives. That's what we want to prepare them for. We also want to reflect on the great things they did this season.''

Even a sour finish couldn't diminish the great feelings from a sweet season.

"It was my goal as well as our goal to get to the NCAA Tournament,'' Pinzan said. "It was great competition. I'm proud of everyone, all the teammates, the staff and the coach. But it just wasn't the way we wanted to end our season.''