Sammie Puisis and Elena Tsineke led the way for the Bulls with 25 and 22 points, respectively.
Game Details
-/RV USF 70, No. 22/18 Texas 65
USF (8-2), Texas (3-4)
Friday, Dec. 2, 2022 | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+/Longhorn Network
Austin, Texas | Moody Arena
AUSTIN, Texas (Dec. 2, 2022) — After two straight losses to Top 25 opponents the University of South Florida women’s basketball team came into the University of Texas’s Moody Center and defeated the No. 22/18-ranked Longhorns, 70-65, in front of a raucous 5,021 Texas faithful. The Bulls improve to 8-2 on the year while the Longhorns fall to 3-4.
The win marks the first against a member of the Top 25 since the Bulls defeated No. 7/5 Stanford, 57-54, in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas on Nov. 26, 2021.
Sammie Puisis fell one point shy of tying her career high with a game-high 25 points while Elena Tsineke added 22 points and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
South Florida led by as many as 11 points in the game, using a 13-2 run to take a 41-32 lead with just under 90 seconds left in the half.
Texas, however, came back in the third quarter and cut the Bulls’ lead to three, 45-42, but could not get any closer through 30 minutes of play. The Longhorns eventually went back on top in the fourth, 57-56, with 6:23 left in the contest on a layup by Shaylee Gonzales, and took the lead three more times, but each time the Bulls answered. Tsineke gave South Florida the lead for good with a driving layup in the lane with just over one minute left and never looked back.
Notable
- Friday’s starters for the Bulls were: G Elena Tsineke, G Aerial Wilson, G Sammie Puisis, F Carla Brito and F Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu … The Bulls are 7-2 with this lineup.
- South Florida’s win over Texas improves its record in the all-time series to 2-1.
- Friday’s game against No. 22/18 Texas is South Florida’s third-straight contest against a member of the Top 25 and, likely, a third of four-straight as the Bulls will travel to Raleigh, N.C. to face current No. 12/11-ranked NC State on Dec. 11.
- The Bulls’ win over No. 22/18 Texas is their first since defeating No. 7/5 Stanford, 57-54, in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship in Nassau, Bahamas on Nov. 26, 2021.
- Elena Tsineke’s 22 points against Villanova mark her 66th career double-figure scoring game in her 89th career game with the Bulls.
- Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu’s 13 points and 10 rebounds mark her 38th career double-double and her 13th in a South Florida uniform.
Up Next
South Florida closes out its five-game road stretch on Sunday, Dec. 11 when it travels to Raleigh, N.C. to face current No. 12/11-ranked NC State. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+/ACC Network.
Catch The Bulls on Bulls Unlimited & ESPN+
The majority of USF’s regular-season games will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform. The American Athletic Conference and ESPN began a new 12-year television rights agreement which started in 2020-21. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $6.99 monthly or $69.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
In addition, all games this season will be broadcast live on USF Bulls Unlimited, with Darek Sharp (home and away) and Brigid Merenda (for home games only) on the call. Bulls Unlimited is available via the free Tune In app (search “Bulls Unlimited’’) and provides static-free quality whether you’re listening on your streaming device, laptop or desktop.
About USF Women’s Basketball
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South Florida recorded its 10th 20-win season during the 2021-22 campaign while playing in its sixth American Athletic Conference championship game in its nine years in the conference. The Bulls achieved their highest national ranking of the season when it checked in at No. 13 in the Nov. 30 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, and advanced to their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in the last nine years.
USF has made 17 postseason tournament appearances and had eight NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 22 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to 10 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship, and has won over 400 career games. 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 at the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.
In 2021-22, the Bulls had three players recognized by The American for impressive seasons, including Elena Tsineke (All-Conference First Team), Bethy Mununga (All-Conference Second Team) and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu (All-Conference Second Team).
In addition, Tsineke and Mununga were named to the American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team.
–#GoBulls –
