Bethy Mununga records the eighth 20-20 game in program history with 23 points, 21 rebounds.
Game Details
No. 21/22 USF 71, East Carolina 58
USF (7-1, 4-0 AAC), East Carolina (5-4, 3-1 AAC)
Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021 | 4 p.m. | ESPN+
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TAMPA (AP) (Jan. 2, 2021) — Bethy Mununga scored 23 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, both personal bests in her two years at South Florida, and the No. 21 Bulls pulled away from East Carolina 71-58 on Saturday.
Mununga, a junior college transfer from Zellik, Belgium, controlled the inside, especially in the second half when she outrebounded the Pirates 15-12 and scored 11 points. The senior, who spent her first two years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, has four double-doubles this season and 13 at USF.
Mununga’s 20-20 performance marked the eighth in program history, and the first since Alisha Jenkins scored 27 points and had 20 rebounds against Harvard on Dec. 3, 2016. In addition, Mununga is the 14th player in program history to grab 20 or more rebounds, and her total is tied for the fourth most in a single game in school history, and tied for the fifth most in American Athletic Conference history.
Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) added 11 points and Maria Alvarez (Bal Harbour, Fla.) 10 for the Bulls (7-1, 4-0 American Athletic Conference), who have won six straight. Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) also handed out eight assists in the win.
Sierra DaCosta and Lashonda Monk had 13 points apiece for East Carolina (5-4, 3-1), which had won four straight. Taniyah Thompson added 12 points.
Mununga had four points as USF scored the last five of the second quarter to lead 32-28 at the half. Monk and Thompson combined for a 9-0 run that put the Pirates on top 37-34 midway through the third quarter. But Mununga scored six points during a 13-2 run and the Bulls led 47-41 going into the fourth quarter.
After an ECU bucket, USF took control with nine-straight points as part of a 15-3 run and led by 15 with 5:11 left.
Mununga was 9 of 12 from the line and Harvey 8 of 10 as the Bulls made 28 of 36 free throws, outscoring East Carolina by 17.
USF athletics communications contributed to this story.
Key Stat
25-9 – USF’s bench stepped up in a big way in the win over East Carolina. The Bulls’ reserves outscored the Pirates subs, 25-9, with all of those points coming from Maria Alvarez (10), Beatriz Jordao (Pombal, Portugal) (8) and Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece) (7).
Notable
- Saturday’s starters for the Bulls were: G Elisa Pinzan, G Sydni Harvey, C Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.), W Kristyna Brabencova (Brno, Czech Republic), and F Bethy Mununga … The Bulls are 1-0 with this lineup.
- The win over East Carolina improved USF’s record in the all-time series to 11-7, and to 6-4 all-time in game played in the Yuengling Center.
- USF’s 7-1 start marks just the sixth time during the Jose Fernandez coaching era (since the 2000-01 season) that the Bulls have won at least seven games through their first eight outings.
- Shae Leverett continues to move up the school’s career blocked shot and rebounding charts … Against the Pirates, Leverett swatted two shots, bringing her to 90 for her career … She is now just three rejections shy of equaling Courtney Williams (2012-16) in seventh place on the school’s career list with 93 … In addition, Leverett continues to move up the school’s career rebounding chart … Against ECU, Leverett’s seven rebounds against the Pirates gave her 572, 18th on USF’s career rebounding list.
- Elisa Pinzan’s eight assists marks the 27th time in her USF career that she has handed out five or more assists, and it’s tied for her fourth most.
Up Next
USF now returns to the Yuengling Center on Wednesday, Jan. 6 when they play host to Wichita State at 7 p.m. (ESPN+). The Bulls will close out what has turned into an unexpected three-game homestand, on Saturday, Jan. 9 (Game time TBD), when Houston visits the Yuengling Center. The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 19, however was postponed due to COVID-19 issues within the Cougars’ program.
About USF Women’s Basketball
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USF notched its ninth consecutive 19-win season and was poised for its ninth straight postseason appearance in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the end of the college basketball season. The Bulls celebrated two all-conference honorees in Elena Tsineke and Elisa Pinzan. Tsineke was named the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, in addition to The American All-Freshman Team and Third Team All-Conference; while Pinzan was named a Third Team All-Conference selection.
USF has made 15 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 20 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 more than 350 games.
– #GoBulls –
