RECAP: Powered by three-point shooting, the Bulls took down Stetson 84-50 in the first round of the WNIT in the Yuengling Center on Thursday night
TAMPA, Fla., MARCH 21, 2019 – USF women’s basketball defeated Stetson 84-50 in the first round of the WNIT in the Yuengling Center on Thursday night to advance to the second round of the postseason tournament.
USF was powered by hot shooting, making 12 three-pointers as a team on 21 attempts for a 57.1 percent shooting efficiency beyond the arc. Freshman Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) led the charge, making a career-high five three-pointers, adding two field goals and four free throws for a career high 23 points. She made a career high 7-of-12 field goals, added five rebounds and four assists in her best career outing.
The Bulls led wire-to-wire, storming out to a 19-4 lead in the first five minutes. USF tied its season high for points scored in the first quarter with 28, and set a new season high for points scored in the second quarter with 27, enough to lead Stetson 55-29 at halftime.
In true South Florida fashion, the Bulls led Stetson on the glass 43-to-23, outrebounding their opponent by 20. USF also assisted 17-of-28 makes on the night for one of USF’s best all-around team performances this season. Four Bulls scored in double figures including Pinzan with a game-high 23 points, Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark) with 19, Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) with 18, and Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.) with 11. Leverett also led USF in rebounds with eight on the night.
USF will advance to the second round of the WNIT and will face the winner of JMU/North Carolina A&T, which tips off on Friday night. USF will play in the second round between March 23-26, and the location and time are yet to be determined. This will be USF’s sixth appearance in the WNIT second round or better.
In the second round of the WNIT, USF will search for its 20th win of the season. USF has had 20 wins or more for the past six straight seasons, and 19 wins or more for the past seven straight seasons.
Quotable by Jose Fernandez
On postseason play…
“We haven’t played in a week in a half so my biggest concern was on how we were going to come out on the offensive end, sharing the ball and running offense. The offensive side of things, we got really good shots. We made the extra pass in that first quarter and that got us going. When no one turned it over once in the first 20 minutes of the game and half of the shots are assisted, the shots are coming from the right places. We’ve had the opportunity to play a lot of folks and get these kids experience playing in the postseason and it was good for them tonight.”
On defeating Stetson by 30-plus points…
“That’s just a credit to the kids we have in our program and I have a really good staff… We’re one game away from 20 wins and we won postseason. We won seven league games, and five or six of those league losses were by seven points or less. It’s just a credit to our kids, we’ve gotten better throughout the year, they’ve been really good with game preparation, and they’ve come out and really executed. And they’ve bought in.”
On Pinzan…
“One thing you want to see with freshman is you really want to see them grow throughout the year. And I think she has really gotten better in all phases of this season.”
Key Stats
23 – Elisa Pinzan had a career-high 23 points, a game-high total that highlights her best career performance.
12 – USF made 12 three-pointers on the night on 21 attempts for 57.1 shooting from beyond the arc.
9 – All available nine Bulls played 10 minutes or more on the night.
Notables
- USF will look for its 20th win of the season in the second round of the WNIT.
- USF has had 20 wins or more for the past six straight seasons, and 19 wins or more for the past seven straight seasons.
- Elisa Pinzan led the Bulls with 23 points, a game-high total that highlighted her best career performance.
- USF has advanced to the second round or better of the WNIT five times.
- This is USF’s first postseason victory since 2016, when the Bulls defeated Colorado State 48-45 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
- The Bulls are no stranger to success in the WNIT, winning the crown in 2009, and advancing to the semifinals in their last WNIT appearance in 2014.
- Under Jose Fernandez, in the WNIT, USF is 14-7.
- USF is appearing in its eighth straight postseason appearance, and 15th postseason appearance under Fernandez.
- Enna Pehadzic was named to the American Athletic Conference Second Team while Sydni Harvey was a unanimous selection to The American’s All-Freshman Team. Learn more.
- USF is without star Kitija Laksa (knee), Beatriz Jordao (leg) and Silvia Serrat (knee) for the season. The Bulls also have been without Laura Ferreira (heart condition) since January.
Up Next
USF will advance to the second round of the WNIT and will face either JMU or North Carolina A&T, which face off Friday night. Following Friday night’s first round game between JMU and North Carolina A&T, the WNIT will set the date, location and time for the second round match-up. This information will be available to the public as soon as it is available.
THE WNIT
The WNIT bracket is made up of 64 teams in a single-elimination championship format. The field includes 32 teams that earned an automatic berth, and 32 teams that were chosen at-large. The automatic qualifiers are the best teams available from the nation’s 32 conferences that were not selected for the NCAA Tournament. The first round begins on Wednesday, March 20th and culminates in the championship help on Saturday, April 6. All games are hosted by participating institutions.
For more information about the WNIT, visit womensNIT.com.
About USF Women’s Basketball
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USF notched its sixth consecutive 20-win season and fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017-18. It marked the ninth 20-win season in program history, with head coach Jose Fernandez at the helm for all nine. The Bulls posted 26 wins in 2017-18, just shy of the program record of 27 set in 2008-09 and 2014-15.
Lorie Garnett
Assistant Director, Communications // WBB, MSOC
