After missing the postseason in a non-COVID year for the first time since 2011, the University of South Florida women's basketball program is determined to re-establish its two primary standards.
* Contention for an American Athletic Conference championship.
* Earning an NCAA Tournament bid.
"A lot of teams would've been excited to win 19 games (South Florida was 19-14 last season), but that's not where our program is at,'' said Jose Fernandez, who is beginning his 25th season as South Florida's head coach. "A lot of people forget that the previous year we had two WNBA draft picks, but that's no excuse. You can talk about injuries, but you've got to find a way to overcome injuries.
"We brought back a lot of good players and we brought in some very, very good pieces and talented players with our seven newcomers. So we feel very good about where we're at heading into the season and we believe we've positioned ourselves very well to achieve our goals.''
In Fernandez's time-honored tradition, the Bulls are relying on the two familiar ingredients that have produced USF's finest teams.
Talent: The Bulls return 6-foot-3 wing Romi Levy, the AAC Preseason Player of the Year, and 6-1 guard Sammie Puisis, one of the nation's top 3-point shooters in 2022-23 who was limited to just one game last season due to injury. Additionally, the Bulls have 5-11 Vittoria Blasigh, the AAC Freshman of the Year who had a 35-point game last season, and 5–6-point guard Mama Dembele, a Missouri transfer who's expected to ramp up the USF offense to jet-speed. There's also veteran 5-11 junior Carla Brito, an AAC All-Freshman pick in 2022-23, with 6-foot Ines Piper in reserve as the power-forward spot.
Competition: Coach Fernandez's teams always play a challenging schedule, but this season's lineup of non-conference opponents might be the most formidable of all. The Bulls will take on the SEC's Vanderbilt Commodores (Nov. 14) and the ACC's Duke Blue Devils (Dec. 21) at the Yuengling Center, while challenging the UConn Huskies (Nov. 10) and defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks (Dec. 15) on the road.
There's also a neutral-site Orlando matchup against the Louisville Cardinals (Nov. 24), along with games against Mississippi State and TCU at the Nov. 29-30 Cayman Islands Classic.
"It's very hard to get our schedule this way,'' said Fernandez, whose team opens Nov. 4 against the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats at the Yuengling Center. "A lot of it is relationship-based. I'm able to pick up the phone, call some coaches, and talk them into it. The motivation is sometimes a home-and-home is just great for the game. I knew we would start again with UConn (former Big East and AAC opponent). Then I called Dawn Staley (South Carolina coach), who we played in the (2023) NCAA Tournament … and nobody wants to play them. But I said, 'Hey, you want to start a home-and-home? It would be great.' And we got it done.
"We need to play these types of games in November and December to show we are a strong program at the end of the season. Seeding (NCAA Tournament) is important. If we don't happen to win the conference tournament, we want to show we've done a good enough job to schedule this way, play well in these games, and hopefully win some of those games.''
Fernandez, an expert networker in the women's basketball world, has tremendous cache as the Women's Basketball Coaches Association vice president/president-elect. He also has been active with USA Basketball and served as assistant coach for the gold medal-winning under-18 National Team.
"We've done our job in scheduling and for those other teams, we're a team with a good NET ranking,'' Fernandez said. "Now if you don't play well in those games, it can hurt you.''
But Fernandez is confident that the Bulls can play with any team in the nation.
He said the Bulls wing play — which includes Levy, Puisis, Blasigh, Minnesota freshman
Amy Thompson and Latvian freshman
Raina Tomasicka — is "the deepest that has been here in 25 years.''
"Having five kids who can come in, play, shoot the ball, handle the ball and create off the bounce … that's where our strength lies,'' Fernandez said.
Fernandez said Dembele "changes things because she can defense, and now we have someone who can really get downhill, spray the ball all over the place, and who has experience in big games.'' Fernandez said he's confident in junior Janette Aarnio backing up Dembele at point guard.
The question mark, Fernandez acknowledged, is at the low-post center position. There's talent and a competitive edge with the return of 6-2 L'or Mputu, plus the addition of 6-4 Brazilian Jeniffer Silva, 6-3 Charlotte transfer Fatou Diakite and 6-2 Bulgarian Yana Karamfilova.
But does a dominant player exist there?
"We're going to find that out,'' Fernandez said. "Our five-spot has some question marks and they know it, but it's our job to coach them, make them better, and hold them accountable. They were all here this summer and they all had really good off-seasons.''
Fernandez said the Bulls needed "to have the locker room mixed up a bit'' and he's hoping the newcomers will provide an added burst of energy while building chemistry.
Levy and Puisis said they are expecting a successful season. The AAC coaches agree. Despite finishing an uncharacteristic fourth last season, the league's coaches picked USF at No. 1 in the preseason poll.
"There are a lot of goals we set last year that we did not achieve,'' Levy said. "Everyone is hungry. Being picked No. 1 this year, we definitely have a target on our back, but we wouldn't have it any other way.''
"With the talent we have on this team and the tests we're going to see throughout our schedule, we're very capable of making some big things happen,'' Puisis said. "That's the standard here at USF.''
