USF's Elena Tsineke Tabbed AAC Player of the Week
IRVING, Texas (Jan. 24, 2022) – University of South Florida women's basketball standout
Elena Tsineke has been named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Jan. 23, the conference announced Monday.
A sophomore guard from Thessaloniki, Greece, Tsineke averaged 27.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game last week while helping the Bulls to a 2-0 record. The Green and Gold logged a pair of wins over Tulsa (66-63) on Jan. 19 and Temple (75-57) in overtime on Jan. 22. She shot 44.7 percent (17-38) from the field, 50 percent (4-for-8) from three-point range, and 85 percent (17-20) from the free-throw line in the two games.
Tsineke poured in a season-high 30 points – one shy of her career-high – against the Golden Hurricane on 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) shooting from the field, 3-for-6 (50 percent) from behind the three-point arc and a near-perfect 7-for-8 (87.5 percent) from the free-throw line. She followed that up with a 25-point performance against the Owls on 7-for-14 (50 percent) from the field, 1-for-2 (50 percent) from long range, and 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the line. Tsineke scored 10 of the Bulls' 16 points in the extra session against Temple and went 8-for-8 from the field, including 6-for-6 in the final 36 seconds.
On the year, Tsineke leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game, which is also good enough fourth in The American. Her 39.9 percent shooting from the floor is fifth in the conference.
The Bulls return to action with a crucial two-game road trip this week, beginning on Wednesday at SMU, with tipoff slated for 8 p.m. ET (ESPN+). South Florida will close out the short two-game stretch at Houston on Sunday in a nationally televised game at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. The Bulls will return home to the Yuengling Center on Sunday, Feb. 6 at noon to face Tulane (ESPNU).
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USF recorded its best season in program history during the 2020-21 campaign, all while navigating the unpredictable COVID-19 landscape. In doing so, the Bulls won their first-ever American Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and posted their highest ranking in the Associated Press Top25 poll – reaching as high as No. 12 – and made their ninth straight postseason appearance, and sixth NCAA appearance in the last 10 years.
USF has made 16 postseason tournament appearances and had seven NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez's 21 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 nearly 400 career games. For his efforts on the sideline during the 2020-21 season, Fernandez was named a finalist for the WBCA and semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Awards. He was also tabbed the 2021 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
The Bulls posted a 19-4 record and had five players, during the 2020-21 campaign, the Bulls had five players recognized by The American for impressive seasons, including Elisa Pinzan (Most Improved Player, All-Conference Second Team), Maria Alvarez (Co-Sixth Player of the Year), Bethy Mununga (All-Conference First Team), Elena Tsineke (All-Conference First Team), and Sydni Harvey (All-Conference Third Team).
In addition, Harvey was named the American Athletic Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team, while Mununga and Tsineke were also All-Tournament selections.
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