Bulls to Play in 2019 Cancun Challenge

USF will face NCAA runner-up Notre Dame, Florida Gulf Coast, and South Dakota State during Thanksgiving week in November.

TAMPA, MAY 9, 2019– The USF women’s basketball team is one of 10 programs selected to journey to the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya over Thanksgiving week for the 15^th annual Cancun Challenge.

The tournament features two formats, the Mayan Tournament and the Riviera Tournament, and the Bulls will play in the Mayan Tournament alongside NCAA runner-up Notre Dame, Florida Gulf Coast and South Dakota State. The Riviera Tournament features Creighton, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Temple and West Virginia.

USF will open play on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, against South Dakota State at 11 a.m. ET. The Bulls will continue play on Nov. 29 against in-state foe Florida Gulf Coast at 1:30 p.m. ET. USF will round out the Cancun Challenge by taking on Notre Dame on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 11 a.m.

Games will take place in the modified ballroom of the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, walking distance from hotel rooms and restaurants.

USF was bitten by the injury bug in 2018-19, and still notched its eighth consecutive 19-win season, finishing 19-16 overall and 7-9 in American Athletic Conference play. Head coach Jose Fernandez earned his 350^th career victory and two Bulls received all-conference honors before USF was selected to compete in the WNIT, extending its streak to 15 consecutive years in a postseason tournament. The Bulls fell in the second round to James Madison, which went on to the semifinals of the tournament. South Florida ended the season No. 6 in the country in rebound margin (+9.8), a consistent figure for the Bulls all season.

USF will enter the 2019-20 season returning last season’s leading scorers in Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark) with 12.1 points per game and Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) with 11.7 points per game as a freshman. The Bulls had a strong freshman class in Harvey, Beatriz Jordao (Pombal, Portugal), Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) and Luize Septe (Ventspils, Latvia), who earned plenty of experience when superstars Laura Ferreira (Lisboa, Portugal) and Kitija Laksa (Riga, Latvia) sustained season-ending injuries. The four freshman combined for an average of 32.2 points per game in 2018-19, with Pinzan and Jordao missing games due to injury, and Septe joining the team in December. Notably, redshirt freshman Silvia Serrat (Banyoles, Spain), who has been on campus battling injuries for two seasons, is expected to return to the Bulls’ healthy roster in the fall.

The USF senior class will feature two proven players, Alyssa Rader (Thornton, Colo.) and Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) returning to lead the Bulls in 2019-20. The Bulls look forward to welcoming five-star recruit Kristyna Brabencova (Brno, Czech Republic), six-time Florida state champion and Miami Country Day product Maria Alvarez (Bal Harbour, Fla.), and NJCAA All-American junior college transfer Bethy Mununga (Belgium) to campus this fall.

Pehadzic will return alongside fellow junior Shae Leverett, who helped the Bulls on the boards with 7.5 rebounds per game last season. Mununga will also join the junior class at USF.

USF still waits the decision of senior wing Laksa, who could return to South Florida for a fifth year of play after a season-ending injury in 2018-19. Laksa graduated last week with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is rehabbing a torn ACL and meniscus.

The season ticket renewal period for the 2019-20 season is open now, but ticketing information for the Cancun Challenge, new season ticket packages and single-game tickets will be announced at a later date.

About USF Women’s Basketball
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF women’s basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).

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 winningestcoach 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.