Maria Alvarez pours in a career high 23 points and led five in double figures; Elisa Pinzan dishes out 14 assists
Game Details
No. 18/19 USF 80, Houston 51
USF (9-1, 6-0 AAC), Houston (5-4, 2-3 AAC)
Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021 | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TAMPA (AP) (Jan. 9, 2021) — Maria Alvarez scored a career-high 23 points with six 3-pointers and Bethy Mununga scored 12 with 14 rebounds and No. 18/19-ranked South Florida blitzed Houston after intermission on the way to an 80-51 win on Saturday.
USF (9-1, 6-0 American Athletic Conference) has won eight straight.
Alvarez, a guard from Bal Harbour, Fla., scored 14 of her 23 points in the second quarter. Mununga, a forward from Zellik, Belgium, logged her fifth double-double of the season and the 14th of her career.
With a 44-38 halftime lead, the Bulls put the clamps on Houston (5-4, 2-3 American Athletic Conference), holding the Cougars to 13 percent shooting in the third quarter (2-for-15) and outscoring them 19-5. Miya Crump was the only Cougar to score in the third as they missed 13 of 15-shot attempts.
During the final 20 minutes of the contest, USF allowed Houston to score only 13 points (five in the third quarter, eight in the fourth), which is tied for the 17th fewest points allowed in a half in a single game in program history. It also marks the second time this season that the Bulls have held a team to 13 points in a half (Tulsa, Dec. 30, 13 points, seven first quarter, six in the second).
Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) scored 11 points and distributed 14 of South Florida’s 22 assists. Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) and Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece) each scored 12.
Crump scored 16 and Julia Blackshell-Fair 10 for Houston.
USF athletics communications contributed to this story.
Key Stat
13 & 13 – Unlucky 13 was certainly the case for Houston, beginning in the third quarter of the game against USF … After trailing 44-38 at the half, The Cougars were held to just 13.3 percent shooting from the field in the third quarter, allowing the Bulls to open the game up … In addition, the Cougars scored just 13 points in the second half of the game, being outscored 36-13,
Notable
- The win over Houston improved USF’s record in the all-time series to 17-7, and 6-4 all-time in games played in the Yuengling Center … The Bulls have won their last four games, and 10 of the last 11 against the Cougars.
- The 29-point margin of victory is the tied for the largest for the Bulls in the all-time series (Feb. 21, 2017, W, 79-50 .
- USF’s 9-1 start marks just the third time during the Jose Fernandez coaching era (since the 2000-01 season) that the Bulls have won at least nine games through their first 10 outings … They also accomplished the feat during the 2016-17 and 2008-09 campaigns … USF has also done it six times in program history, also doing so during the 2016-17, 2008-09, 1999-00, 1976-77 and 1972-73 seasons … USF’s best season start in program history (with one loss) was 13-1, during the 2016-17 and 2008-09 seasons.
- Maria Alvarez’s career high 23 points is the second 20-point outing of her collegiate career, and surpasses her previous career best of 20 points against VCU on Nov. 15, 2019 … Alvarez was an impressive 7-of-9 from the field, 6-of-8 from three-point range, and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line.
- Elisa Pinzan’s career high 14 assists are tied for the second most handouts in a single game in program history … It is also her 29th career game of five-or-more assists, and the ninth game of eight or more handouts.
- Shae Leverett continues to move up the school’s career blocked shot and rebounding charts … Her two blocked shots against the Cougars gives her 92 for her career, just one rejection shy of equaling Courtney Williams (2012-16) in seventh place on the school’s career list with 93 … In addition, Leverett continues to move up the school’s career rebounding chart … Against Houston, Leverett’s nine rebounds give her 586, surpassing ChiChi Okpaleke (2004-08) and her 580 in 17th place.
Up Next
USF travels to The Big Easy to face Tulane on Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+. The game against the Green Wave will be the first of three, in a four-game stretch, that USF will play on the road, along with dates at Wichita State on Jan. 20 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+) and East Carolina on Jan. 23 (1 p.m., ESPN+). The lone home contest during that stretch will be a nationally televised game against Memphis on Jan. 17 (4 p.m.) on ESPNU.
About USF Women’s Basketball
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USF notched its ninth consecutive 19-win season and was poised for its ninth straight postseason appearance in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the end of the college basketball season. The Bulls celebrated two all-conference honorees in Elena Tsineke and Elisa Pinzan. Tsineke was named the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, in addition to The American All-Freshman Team and Third Team All-Conference; while Pinzan was named a Third Team All-Conference selection.
USF has made 15 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 20 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 –
