Elisa Pinzan led four players in double figures with 19 points; Elena Tsineke had 14 points in the win.
Game Details
No. 23/24 USF 65, Memphis 58
USF (4-1, 1-0 AAC), Memphis (2-3, 0-1 AAC)
Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 | 3 p.m. ET | ESPN+
Memphis, Tenn. | Elma Roane Fieldhouse
TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 16, 2020) — The University of South Florida women’s basketball team traveled to the “Birthplace of Rock ‘n Roll” for its American Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday against Memphis. Fortunately for the Bulls, they had the Tigers singing the blues as USF pulled out a 65-58 win at Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
USF, ranked No. 23 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 24 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches poll, won its third straight game and improved to 4-1 on the year, and 1-0 in The American. Memphis fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) led the way for the Bulls with a season high 19 points. Pinzan paced a total of four players in double digits in the scoring column, including Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece) with 14 points, Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) with 12 points, and Beatriz Jordao (Pombal, Portugal) with 10 points in the win.
Bethy Mununga (Zellik, Belgium) grabbed a team high 10 rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
After leading at the half, 31-26, the Bulls went ahead by as many 13 points in the second half when Tsineke drained a deep three with just over eight minutes left in the third quarter to make the score 39-26, capping her own 6-0 run.
The pesky Tigers, however, didn’t go away quietly, eventually cutting USF’s advantage down to one point, 50-49, early in the final stanza. That was as close as Memphis got the rest of the way. The Bulls eventually hit four of their six free throws in the final 25 seconds of the contest to secure the win.
Key Stat
7 – The Bulls took care of the ball on Wednesday against Memphis, turning it over a season-low seven times.
Notable
- Wednesday’s starters for the Bulls were: G Elisa Pinzan, G Elena Tsineke, G Sydni Harvey, F Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.), and F Bethy Mununga … The Bulls are 4-1 with this lineup.
- The win over Memphis draws the Bulls closer to leveling the all-time series against the Tigers (15-13) … USF has won five of the last seven games and 11 of their last 14 since the 2004-05 season.
- The win against the Tigers is USFs seventh straight conference opening win, and to improve to 7-1 in AAC openers … The Bulls are 11-9 in league openers under Jose Fernandez.
- Bethy Mununga’s 10 rebounds marked her 22nd career double-figure rebounding game wearing the Green and Gold, and her fifth of the season … In addition, it is her ninth double-figure scoring performance in the last 10 outings dating back to last season.
- Elisa Pinzan’s 19 points marked her 16th career double-figure scoring game, and her third of the season.
- Shae Leverett continues to move up the school’s career blocked shot and rebounding charts … Against Memphis, Leverett swatted four shots, bringing her to 87 for her career and passing former teammate Tamara Henshaw (2016-20) in eighth place … In addition, Leverett’s six rebounds against the Tigers gave her 551 for her career, moving her into sole possession of 18th place on USF’s career rebounding list, surpassing Porche Grant (2006-09).
Up Next
The Bulls return to Tampa for their final home contest of 2020 when they welcome Houston to the Yuengling Center on Saturday. Tip-off against the Cougars is slated for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen live on ESPN+. USF closes out the calendar year with two straight on the road – at Cincinnati on Dec. 22 (2 p.m., ESPN+) and at Tulsa on Dec. 30 (7 p.m., ESPN+).
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 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 –
