Tsineke was one of three players scoring in double figures, along with Maria Alvarez and Tamara Henshaw
Game Details
FGCU 81, 21/20 USF 77
USF (5-3), Florida Gulf Coast (7-1)
Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 | 1:30 p.m.
Cancun, Mexico | Hard Rock Riviera Maya Hotel Convention Center
CANCUN, Mexico (Nov. 29, 2019) – The No. 21/20 University of South Florida women’s basketball team placed three players in double figures, including a career-high 19 points from Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece), but Florida Gulf Coast proved to be too much down the stretch as the Eagles handed the Bulls an 81-77 loss on day two of the 2019 Cancun Challenge at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya Convention Center. USF falls to 5-3 on the year, while FGCU improves to 7-1.
Tsineke, who started her first collegiate game, was 5-for-9 (55.5 percent) from the field, including 2-for-4 (50.0 percent) from behind the three-point arc, and 7-for-8 (87.5 percent) from the free-throw line. She also had two assists and two steals in the loss.
Maria Alvarez (Miami, Fla.) added 14 points and a career-high six assists, while Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) chipped in with a season-high tying 10 points and a season-best nine rebounds. Bethy Mununga (Zellik, Belgium) tied her career-high, for the fifth time this season, with a game-high 12 rebounds
USF closed the third quarter on a 6-2 run to cut the Eagles’ lead to one, 53-52, at the end of the period. FGCU, however, scored the first five points of the fourth to put some distance between themselves and the Bulls, leading by six, 58-52, with just over eight minutes left in the game. The Eagles pushed their advantage to a game-high 10 points, twice, the final time coming with just over three minutes left, 68-58. USF had one final push in them cutting the FGCU lead to three, 70-67, with 1:44 left in the contest, on the first of two-straight three-point shots by Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy). That was as close as the Bulls got.
USF finished the game shooting 45.2 percent (28-for-62) from the field, and the same percentage from behind the three-point arc (9-for-21). The Bulls shot a season-high 70.6 percent (12-for-17) from the charity stripe.
Score By Quarters
1 2 3 4 F
USF 21 16 15 25 77
FGCU 17 19 17 28 81
Quotable
“I thought we played better offensively today, without a doubt. I thought we played aggressive and put the ball in the basket. We just struggle fouling folks, and that was very uncharacteristic. A lot of times we didn’t match up in transition and we gave up a lot of uncontested threes, unchallenged threes. So we have to group and we have Notre Dame tomorrow. These games that we are playing are three NCAA Tournament games, and that’s why we play the schedule that we do; to be put in these tough situations and learn from them.” – USF head coach Jose Fernandez on the Bulls’ loss to Florida Gulf Coast
Key Stats
20 – For the second-straight game the Bulls turned the ball over 20 times, with Friday’s total leading to 18 Florida Gulf Coast points.
34-20 – The Bulls controlled the paint, outscoring the Eagles in the lane, 34-20.
Notable
- Elena Tsineke earned her first collegiate career start today against Florida Gulf Coast.
Up Next
The Bulls will close out the 2019 Cancun Challenge on Saturday at 11 a.m. when they battle 2019 NCAA national runner-up Notre Dame. Following Cancun, the Bulls will return home for two-straight games against Alabama State on Dec. 6 (5:30 p.m.) and Idaho on Dec. 16 (1 p.m.).
Reserve your seats at USFBullsTix.com.
– #GoBulls –
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.
