Houston, Texas - Jan. 10, 2024 – South Florida women's basketball (11-7, 3-2) dropped a close, 67-64 matchup to Rice (9-6, 3-1) on Sunday afternoon inside Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas.
Freshman guard
Vittoria Blasigh led all scorers with a 26-point performance while knocking down four 3-pointers and 8-of-9 shots at the charity stripe. Redshirt junior forward
Romi Levy added 10 points, eight boards, three assists, and a single steal. Sophomore forward
Daniela Gonzalez (10 points) rounded out the Bulls who finished the day in double-figures.
Malia Fisher led the Owls with 23 points, a career-high, scoring 12 in the final quarter including 8-of-8 free throws helping the Owls to a late six-point advantage. Rice trailed 52-48 after Blasigh's 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, and Blasigh went on to score the Bulls' first 10 points of the period. Gonzalez converted a 3-point play with :57 remaining and after a stop, South Florida had a chance to force overtime but a pair of Blasigh three tries came up short.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Blasigh now has a trio of 20-point performances on the year.
- Levy has collected nine double-digit scoring games on the season.
- Gonzalez logged her second 10-plus point game of the campaign.
- For the fifth time this season, three Bulls scored double-digits, and USF is now 4-1 when three performers hit double-digit points.
- L'or Mputu provided a big spark with six first-half points, four during a 9-0 run after Rice had jumped ahead 19-11.
UP NEXT
South Florida closes out its Texas swing trip on Tuesday (Jan. 16) night in San Antonio, as the Bulls face UTSA. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and the game will stream live on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Fans can purchase women's basketball tickets by calling 1-800-GoBulls or at
USFBullsTix.com.
ABOUT USF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
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South Florida women's basketball recorded its 11th 20-win season during the 2022-23 campaign. USF has made 18 postseason tournament appearances and had nine NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez's 23 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to 11 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship, has won over 400 career games, and is the all-time wins leader in the American Athletic Conference.
In 2022-23, the Bulls had four players recognized by The American for impressive seasons, including Elena Tsineke (AAC Co-Player of the Year, All-Conference First Team), Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu (AAC Co-Player of the Year, All-Conference First Team), Sammie Puisis (AAC Newcomer of the Year, All-Conference Second Team) and Carla Brito (AAC All-Freshman Team).
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