Elena Tsineke leads the Bulls, and four players in double figures with 21 points; USF wins third-straight
Game Details
USF 85, SMU 62
USF (18-11, 10-5 in AAC), SMU (12-15, 6-9 in AAC)
Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 | 7 p.m. | BullsVision
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TAMPA (Feb. 29, 2020) – The University of South Florida women’s basketball team used a big third quarter as the Bulls pulled away in the second half en route to an 85-62 win over SMU, at the Yuengling Center, in their regular season home finale. The win improves USF to 18-11 on the year and 10-5 in the American Athletic Conference. The Mustangs fall to 12-15 overall and 6-9.
Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece) led four players in double figures in the scoring column with a game-high 21 points, while Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) added 14 points and Bethy Mununga (Zellik, Belgium) posted her ninth career double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds. Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. Pinzan fell one assist shy of her first career double-double.
When it came right down to it, the night was all about Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) who played in her last regular season home game for the Bulls on Senior Night. Henshaw finished the game with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots, in addition to a storybook ending. With just over 90 seconds left in the contest Mununga found Henshaw under the basket, for the second of her two assists, as the senior connected on the wide-open layup. USF head coach Jose Fernandez immediately called a timeout for the substitution as Henshaw came out of the game to a well-deserved, emotional standing ovation.
The Bulls led by just three points at the break, 34-31, however blew the game open in the third quarter, powered by a 19-4 run to give USF a 57-40 lead with just over a minute left in the third stanza. USF outscored SMU 24-13 in the third quarter and 27-18 in the fourth.
The Mustangs, who came into the game winning two-straight, and three of their last four, never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
USF shot 55.4 percent (31-for-56) from the field, its second highest field goal performance of the season, and 40.0 (8-for-20) from behind the three-point arc. The Bulls also dominated the scoring in the paint, holding a 40-20 advantage.
Score By Quarters
1 2 3 4 F
USF 15 19 24 27 85
SMU 15 16 13 18 62
Notable
- Tonight’s starters for the Bulls were: G Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy), G Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece), F Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.), W Sydni Harvey and F Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) … The Bulls are 1-0 with this lineup.
- USF outrebounded Memphis, 43-26, which marks the 28th time in 29 games that the Bulls have outrebounded their opponent.
- With her second rebound of the game, in the first quarter, Shae Leverett grabbed her 500th career board … She finished the game four rebounds for 502 for her career.
- Tamara Henshaw grabbed five rebounds against SMU and now has 877 for her career … She is currently in sixth place on the school’s career rebounding list … Next up, in fifth place, is Maria Jespersen (2014-18) with 891 career rebounds.
- Henshaw played in her 130th career game on Saturday against SMU, and is tied with Akila McDonald (2010-14) for sixth all-time in program history … She is now one game from joining Alisia Jenkins (2012-16) in fifth, two from joining Shantia Grace (2005-09) in fourth, and four from tying Maria Jespersen (2014-18) in third.
- Bethy Mununga grabbed 16 rebounds against the Mustangs for her 15th double-figure rebounding performance of her USF career … It marked her ninth double-double in the Green and Gold, and the second in the last six games … Mununga was one rebound shy of equaling her career-high set against Tulane on Feb. 13.
- Elisa Pinzan dished out a career-high nine assists against the Mustangs.
- Cristina Bermejo (Sant Just Desvern, Spain) scored nine points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, falling one-point shy of equaling her career best of 10 points set against Idaho on Dec. 15.
Up Next
USF closes out the regular season on March 2 at 7 p.m., when it travels to Hartford, Conn. to face UConn at the XL Center as part of Big Monday on ESPN2.
Following its regular season finale, the Bulls will head to Uncasville, Conn. for the 2020 AAC Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Mohegan Sun Arena, March 6-9. Tournament pairings and the tournament bracket will be released Monday night.
About USF Women’s Basketball
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USF notched its eighth consecutive 19-win season and eighth straight postseason appearance in 2018-19. The Bulls celebrated two all-conference honorees in Enna Pehadzic and Sydni Harvey.
USF has made 15 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 19 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 –
